BTCC 2026 Opening Round at Donington: Full Weekend Report

If anyone needed a reminder that British motorsport still knows how to put on a show, this weekend at Donington Park was it. The opening round of the 2026 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship delivered a new qualifying race format, a title defending champion disqualified from victory, a double winner who started the final race eighth on the grid, and a championship lead that already looks like a fight for the season.

For SuperHub, this was our first full race weekend of the year working trackside with our motorsport clients. We had boots on the ground across BTCC, Porsche Carrera Cup GB, Porsche Sprint Challenge GB, MINI Challenge JCW and the Legends Cars Elite Cup. Here is how the weekend played out and what we were doing while it happened.

The 2026 BTCC season introduced a Saturday qualifying race for the first time, setting the grid for Sunday's three points scoring rounds. Dan Rowbottom made it count, winning the inaugural event on the debut weekend of his new Cataclean Plato Racing team. Mikey Doble gave the new Power Maxed Racing Audi A3 a debut to remember with fourth, and Ash Sutton spun himself to the back after contact with Tom Ingram. Sunday had plenty to work with before the lights had even gone out.

Tom Ingram led the opening round of the season from the front, riding the medium tyre while a pack of soft shod rivals closed in. He crossed the line first, but a post race scrutineering check found a significant overboost infringement on his EXCELR8 run Team Vertu Hyundai and he was removed from the results. Adam Morgan received a five second penalty for a lesser overboost.

That handed the first win of the 2026 season to Mikey Doble, with Sutton second and Charles Rainford third for WSR. Tom Chilton for our EXCELR8 client drove his Hyundai home ninth to collect the first points of his Team Vertu campaign. Nicolas Hamilton finished 17th on his Team Vertu debut and Ricky Collard retired on lap 14 with suspected damage.

Ashley Sutton climbed from the back of the grid to take his 48th career BTCC win, with Dan Cammish making it a NAPA Racing UK one two. Gordon Shedden completed the podium. Ricky Collard brought the EXCELR8 Hyundai home eighth for his first BTCC points since 2023. Chilton took 13th and Mikey Doble finished 14th after race one had left his car in the thick of the midfield fight. Ingram failed to start and Hamilton did not make the grid after race one damage.

Starting eighth, Sutton carved through to win his 49th career BTCC race and left Donington Park with an 18 point championship lead. Tom Ingram answered his critics with second from the back of the grid and looked every bit the double champion he is. The title defence is alive. This is going to be a very long season for anyone trying to stop Alliance Racing run NAPA and EXCELR8 run Team Vertu. Race 3 was an elbows out old school touring car race, brilliant!

Tom Ovenden (also EXCELR8's development driver)kicked off his JCW title defence with three wins from three. Alfie Garford matched him in JCW Sport with a faultless hat trick. If you want an example of how brutal a one make championship can be, here it is.

Our client Jonny Moore made his Porsche Carwow Carrera Cup GB debut with JTR, stepping up from the 2025 Sprint Challenge GB Clubsport Pro title into the Pro-Am category. The Barnsley racer is on a steep learning curve and the Carrera Cup GB is not a forgiving place to learn. We will have more on Jonny's weekend in a dedicated post.

Rounds three and four of the Legends Cars Elite Cup joined the TOCA package at Donington for the first time this season. Chris Needham arrived as championship leader and the full heat and final format gave teams plenty to work with across both days. This is frankly the maddest racing version of draughting chess with 3 abreast photo finishes. Bonkers!

Every time a client's car crossed the line this weekend, we had content ready to move. Reels, stills, stories and sponsor led posts were produced trackside and pushed to Team Vertu, EXCELR8, Mikey Doble and Jonny Moore's channels in real time. This was also the first race weekend featuring Antonia Rankin as the new on camera presenter for Team Vertu. Having a trained presenter pulling driver reactions seconds after the chequered flag is the difference between a holiday snap and a sponsor asset.

The sponsor activation side of things is where weekends like this actually pay for themselves. When your brand is visible, in motion, and attached to a story being told on Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn and YouTube within minutes of a race ending, you are not buying stickers on a bonnet. You are buying audience and memory.

Every race weekend, the BTCC reaches an audience measured in millions across ITV4, ITVX and digital. A bit of strategic thought and the right creative package gets your brand in front of that audience for less than you think.

• Brands and sponsors: we have entry points from £5,000 on the grid and full season packages that deliver measurable audience, content and activation. Book a 20 minute call and we will walk you through what is live right now.
• Race teams and drivers: if you were watching this weekend and thought your content output was thin, we work trackside delivering real time creative for teams who want to turn race weekends into commercial weekends. Get in touch.
• Want to race? Drivers who want to build a commercial career in motorsport, not just a lap time, are the ones who get signed. Start a conversation.

Call us on +441803262074 or email info@superhub.biz. Next round, Brands Hatch.

SuperHub is a motorsport marketing and media agency based in Paignton, Devon. We deliver trackside content, sponsorship strategy and driver commercial management to teams competing across the TOCA package and beyond.