Two Podiums and a Farewell Cut Short: EXCELR8's Bittersweet Croft

Croft gave EXCELR8 plenty to celebrate and one thing to feel genuinely sorry about. Three podium-level drives across the weekend, a season-best from Tom Chilton in the finale, and a rostrum apiece for Tom Ingram and Ricky Collard, all of it set against the bittersweet backdrop of Collard's final race for the team ending before it had really begun. Touring car racing rarely gives you a tidy, uncomplicated story, and this was a weekend that ran the full range of emotions on the fast North Yorkshire sweeps.

Croft hosted Rounds 22, 23 and 24, with Josh Cook winning the opener, Ash Sutton the middle race, and Mikey Doble's Audi taking the finale from the front.

Ingram and Chilton on the podium

Tom Ingram opened the weekend in the manner of a champion who is not done fighting, taking third place in Race 1 for a well-earned podium. The middle and final races were less kind, two retirements robbing him of the chance to add to the tally, which is the sort of luck that has dogged his title defence in the second half of the year. But the pace was there when it counted, and third on Saturday was no fluke.

The finale, though, belonged to Tom Chilton, who produced his best drive of the season to finish second, split from the winner by just a couple of seconds and holding off everything behind him on a circuit where defending is an art form. After a season of rough weekends and rotten luck, it was exactly the result Chilton deserved, and a reminder that the experience in that car runs very deep indeed. Nic Hamilton, as ever, went about his work reliably in the lower reaches of the order across all three races.

A farewell that deserved better

The weekend was Ricky Collard's last for the team, and he very nearly gave it the send-off it deserved. A superb third place in Race 2, another podium to add to a part-season that has been full of them, was exactly the way to sign off, and had the weekend ended there it would have been a fitting goodbye. Sadly it did not. His final race for the team ended almost before it had started, a retirement at the very first attempt that denied him the chance to bow out on track.

It is a shame, because Collard has been one of the stories of the season, a driver on a part-programme who kept turning up and kept scoring podiums, and who leaves having repeatedly made the case for a full-time seat in the most emphatic way possible, with his results. Everyone at EXCELR8 and Team VERTU will wish him well for whatever comes next, and the paddock has not seen the last of him.

EXCELR8's partners

The EXCELR8 operation is backed by brands who understand that motorsport works hardest when the partnership is properly activated, not just badged.

Team Vertu — one of the largest automotive retailers in the UK, and the title backing behind the BTCC entry.

Draper Tools — the Hampshire tool manufacturer supplying trade and workshop since 1919.

Hansford Sensors — global manufacturer of industrial vibration monitoring sensors.

HRX UK — performance racewear worn across the grid and beyond.

 Millers Oils — Yorkshire-based independent lubricants and treatments manufacturer, in motorsport since 1887.

This weekend EXCELR8 announced an increased partnership with The Bearing Specialists

If you would like to talk about partnering with EXCELR8 or any other team in the paddock, we can help.

SuperHub trackside

SuperHub produces content for Team VERTU and EXCELR8 Motorsport through the season, and a weekend as layered as Croft is exactly where the storytelling matters. Two podiums to shout about, a season-best drive from Chilton to celebrate, and a farewell to mark with the respect it deserves, that is a richer and more human story than any single result, and it is the sort of content that keeps a team and its partners connected to the people following along.

The BTCC heads to Silverstone next as the season enters its closing stretch. Ingram will want to turn pace back into points, Chilton has a podium to build on, and there is still plenty to race for.

SuperHub partners with EXCELR8 Motorsport across the 2026 season delivering content, PR and sponsor activation. To talk about motorsport sponsorship, book a call or drop us a line.

Race results sourced from the official BTCC timing partner, TSL Timing, and the official BTCC website.