Photo: BTCC

Croft calling for next instalment of BTCC season

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The British Touring Car Championship enters the business end of the 2026 season at Croft this weekend, where all eyes will be on four-time champion Ash Sutton to see if he can move a step closer towards clinching a record-breaking fifth crown.

With just three events and nine races now remaining, the UK’s premier motorsport series heads to the North East of England with Alliance Racing’s Sutton very much in the box seat at the top of the standings.

Despite not winning a race at Donington Park last time out, the Ford Focus Titanium driver maintained his rich run of form by extending his advantage over reigning champion Tom Ingram to 98 points.

Since debuting in the BTCC a decade ago, Croft has proven to be a happy hunting ground for Sutton; with the 32-year-old being the most successful driver on the grid around the North Yorkshire venue. He’ll therefore hope to continue that theme across Sunday’s three encounters.

While Sutton will be aiming to put himself within touching distance of title glory, two-time champion Ingram will be focused on extracting the maximum from his EXCELR8 Hyundai in an attempt to close the gap to his rival of many years.

Ingram – who owns both the qualifying and race lap records at the circuit – will need to be at the top of his game however as sitting just five points behind him in third place is Sutton’s team-mate Dan Cammish.

Looking to make his mark at what is his home event, the Yorkshireman has momentum on his side having been a winner at Donington Park a fortnight ago. Sitting in fourth and also riding high is CPRL’s Adam Morgan, who has won three of the last six races in his Mercedes-AMG A35 Saloon.

Meanwhile, Ricky Collard resides in fifth currently but Croft could mark his final event of the season unless additional backing is secured. He, along with Morgan’s team-mate Dan Rowbottom, are both searching for their first wins of the season.

Completing the top ten going into the weekend is the lead WSR BMW of Charles Rainford, three-time champion Gordon Shedden, his Speedworks Motorsport stablemate Josh Cook and the front-running Independent Mikey Doble.

Track action at Croft begins with practice at 10:15 local time/11:15 CEST on Saturday morning before qualifying and the qualifying race commence at 14:05. Sunday sees three races staged; the first at 12:10, followed by race two at 14:30 and race three at 17:15.