#	Team	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Form
1	Arsenal	35	23	7	5	67	26	+41	76	WWLLW
2	Manchester City	33	21	7	5	66	29	+37	70	WWWDD
3	Manchester United	34	17	10	7	60	46	+14	61	WWLDW
4	Liverpool	34	17	7	10	57	44	+13	58	WWWLD
5	Aston Villa	34	17	7	10	47	42	+5	58	LWDWL
6	Brentford	35	14	9	12	52	46	+6	51	WLDDD
7	Brighton	35	13	11	11	49	42	+7	50	LWDWW
8	Bournemouth	34	11	16	7	52	52	0	49	DWWDD
9	Chelsea	34	13	9	12	53	45	+8	48	LLLLL
10	Fulham	35	14	6	15	44	49	-5	48	LWDLW
11	Everton	34	13	8	13	41	41	0	47	LLDWL
12	Sunderland	35	12	11	12	37	46	-9	47	DLLWW
13	Newcastle	35	13	6	16	49	51	-2	45	WLLLL
14	Crystal Palace	33	11	10	12	36	39	-3	43	LDWDW
15	Leeds	35	10	13	12	47	52	-5	43	WDWWD
16	Nottingham Forest	34	10	9	15	41	45	-4	39	WWDWD
17	West Ham	35	9	9	17	42	61	-19	36	LWDWL
18	Tottenham	34	8	10	16	43	53	-10	34	WDLLD
19	Burnley	35	4	8	23	35	71	-36	20	LLLLL
20	Wolves	35	3	9	23	25	63	-38	18	DLLLD

#	Team	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Form
1	Coventry	46	28	11	7	97	45	+52	95	WWWDD
2	Ipswich	46	23	15	8	80	47	+33	84	WDDWD
3	Millwall	46	24	11	11	64	49	+15	83	WDWWD
4	Southampton	46	22	14	10	82	56	+26	80	WDDWW
5	Middlesbrough	46	22	14	10	72	47	+25	80	DWWDL
6	Hull City	46	21	10	15	70	66	+4	73	WLDDL
7	Wrexham	46	19	14	13	69	65	+4	71	DLWWL
8	Derby	46	20	9	17	67	59	+8	69	LWLWL
9	Norwich	46	19	8	19	63	56	+7	65	LDWWL
10	Birmingham	46	17	13	16	57	56	+1	64	DWWDW
11	Swansea	46	18	10	18	57	59	-2	64	WDWLW
12	Bristol City	46	17	11	18	59	59	0	62	WLDLD
13	Sheffield Utd	46	18	6	22	66	66	0	60	WLLWW
14	Preston	46	15	15	16	55	62	-7	60	LWLLW
15	QPR	46	16	10	20	61	73	-12	58	LLLLD
16	Watford	46	14	15	17	53	65	-12	57	LLLLL
17	Stoke City	46	15	10	21	51	56	-5	55	LLLLD
18	Portsmouth	46	14	13	19	49	64	-15	55	DWLWW
19	Charlton	46	13	14	19	44	58	-14	53	LWLDL
20	Blackburn	46	13	13	20	42	56	-14	52	LWDLD
21	West Brom	46	13	14	19	48	58	-10	51	LDWWD
22	Oxford United	46	11	14	21	45	59	-14	47	LWLLW
23	Leicester	46	12	16	18	58	68	-10	46	WDDLL
24	Sheffield Wednesday	46	2	12	32	29	89	-60	0	WLLDD

#	Team	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Form
1	Lincoln	46	31	10	5	89	41	+48	103	WWWDW
2	Cardiff	46	27	10	9	90	50	+40	91	LWWWD
3	Stockport County	46	22	11	13	71	58	+13	77	WLWLD
4	Bradford	46	22	11	13	58	51	+7	77	WDDDL
5	Bolton	46	19	18	9	70	52	+18	75	LDDWL
6	Stevenage	46	21	12	13	49	46	+3	75	WDWDL
7	Luton	46	21	11	14	68	56	+12	74	WWWDW
8	Plymouth	46	22	7	17	75	63	+12	73	WWDWD
9	Huddersfield	46	18	13	15	74	64	+10	67	WLDDD
10	Mansfield Town	46	16	17	13	62	50	+12	65	WDWWD
11	Wycombe	46	17	12	17	69	58	+11	63	WLLDL
12	Reading	46	16	15	15	64	60	+4	63	LDLLL
13	Blackpool	46	17	9	20	54	65	-11	60	WWWWL
14	Doncaster	46	17	9	20	50	69	-19	60	WDLWW
15	Barnsley	46	15	14	17	68	73	-5	59	LWLLD
16	Wigan	46	14	14	18	49	58	-9	56	LLDWW
17	Burton Albion	46	13	15	18	50	60	-10	54	DDDWD
18	Peterborough	46	15	8	23	64	68	-4	53	LDLDL
19	AFC Wimbledon	46	15	8	23	51	72	-21	53	LWLLL
20	Leyton Orient	46	14	10	22	59	71	-12	52	DLLDL
21	Exeter City	46	12	13	21	52	61	-9	49	LDDDW
22	Port Vale	46	10	12	24	36	61	-25	42	LWLLD
23	Rotherham	46	10	11	25	41	71	-30	41	LDLWL
24	Northampton	46	9	8	29	39	74	-35	35	LLLLL

#	Team	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Form
1	Bromley ★ KENT	46	24	15	7	71	46	+25	87	WLDLW
2	Milton Keynes Dons	46	24	14	8	86	45	+41	86	DWWWD
3	Cambridge United	46	22	16	8	66	33	+33	82	DWLDW
4	Salford City	46	25	6	15	61	51	+10	81	DWWDL
5	Notts County	46	24	8	14	74	52	+22	80	DWLLW
6	Chesterfield	46	21	16	9	71	56	+15	79	WWDWD
7	Grimsby	46	22	12	12	74	50	+24	78	DWWWL
8	Barnet	46	21	13	12	70	53	+17	76	WWWWW
9	Swindon Town	46	22	9	15	70	59	+11	75	LLDLW
10	Oldham	46	18	14	14	60	44	+16	68	WLLLL
11	Crewe	46	19	10	17	64	58	+6	67	DLLLW
12	Colchester	46	18	12	16	62	49	+13	66	WLLWW
13	Walsall	46	18	11	17	56	56	0	65	LLWLL
14	Bristol Rovers	46	19	5	22	56	65	-9	62	DWWWW
15	Fleetwood Town	46	15	16	15	57	58	-1	61	DDDWL
16	Accrington ST	46	14	11	21	47	58	-11	53	LDDLL
17	Gillingham ★ KENT	46	13	14	19	53	72	-19	53	WLLLD
18	Cheltenham	46	14	10	22	53	79	-26	52	LLLWW
19	Shrewsbury	46	13	10	23	42	69	-27	49	LDDWL
20	Newport County	46	12	7	27	48	77	-29	43	WWLWL
21	Tranmere	46	10	11	25	54	79	-25	41	DLWLD
22	Crawley Town	46	8	16	22	44	68	-24	40	DDDLL
23	Harrogate Town	46	10	9	27	39	68	-29	39	LWWLL
24	Barrow	46	9	9	28	45	78	-33	36	LLLWL

#	Team	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Form
1	York	46	33	9	4	114	41	+73	108	DWWWW
2	Rochdale	46	33	7	6	88	41	+47	106	DWWDL
3	Carlisle	46	29	8	9	87	51	+36	95	WWWDD
4	Boreham Wood	46	27	9	10	95	58	+37	90	WWWLW
5	Scunthorpe	46	23	13	10	77	62	+15	82	LDWLD
6	Southend	46	23	12	11	83	47	+36	81	WLWWD
7	Forest Green	46	23	12	11	82	52	+30	81	WLWDW
8	FC Halifax Town	46	20	10	16	69	66	+3	70	WLDDW
9	Hartlepool	46	18	14	14	54	59	-5	68	LWWLD
10	Woking	46	16	15	15	69	54	+15	63	LWDWD
11	Tamworth	46	17	11	18	63	71	-8	62	WDLDW
12	Boston United	46	15	14	17	63	67	-4	59	WWDWD
13	Altrincham	46	17	6	23	55	65	-10	57	WWWLL
14	Solihull Moors	46	14	14	18	71	72	-1	56	WLDDW
15	Wealdstone	46	15	11	20	67	74	-7	56	LDDLW
16	Yeovil Town	46	15	6	25	48	68	-20	51	LLDLW
17	Eastleigh	46	13	11	22	57	80	-23	50	WDLWD
18	Gateshead	46	14	8	24	54	90	-36	50	LLWWD
19	Sutton Utd	46	11	14	21	59	79	-20	47	LLLLD
20	Aldershot Town	46	13	7	26	69	87	-18	46	LLLLL
21	Brackley Town	46	10	12	24	40	75	-35	42	LWLDL
22	Morecambe	46	9	11	26	66	103	-37	38	LLLDW
23	Braintree	46	8	12	26	38	76	-38	36	LLLDL
24	Truro City	46	8	10	28	42	72	-30	34	WLLDL

#	Team	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Form
1	AFC Fylde	46	32	4	10	112	51	+61	100	WWLWL
2	South Shields	46	28	11	7	99	43	+56	95	LDWWL
3	Kidderminster Harriers	46	25	12	9	74	51	+23	87	WWWWW
4	Macclesfield	46	24	7	15	81	68	+13	79	LWLLW
5	Buxton	46	22	7	17	83	61	+22	73	WWDWW
6	Scarborough Athletic	46	19	16	11	61	52	+9	73	DWLWW
7	Chester	46	20	13	13	66	64	+2	73	DWWWW
8	Merthyr Town	46	22	4	20	95	86	+9	70	LLWLL
9	Darlington 1883	46	20	9	17	78	68	+10	69	LDLWL
10	Spennymoor Town	46	19	11	16	62	69	-7	68	DWLLD
11	AFC Telford United	46	17	14	15	85	65	+20	65	LDWLL
12	Marine	46	18	8	20	62	72	-10	62	DLLLW
13	Radcliffe	46	18	6	22	76	83	-7	60	WLLLL
14	Southport	46	16	12	18	64	71	-7	60	WLLLW
15	Chorley	46	15	12	19	66	65	+1	57	WDLLW
16	Worksop Town	46	16	9	21	66	74	-8	57	LWWLD
17	Oxford City	46	15	11	20	62	67	-5	56	WLWDW
18	Bedford Town	46	13	14	19	66	77	-11	53	DDDWW
19	King's Lynn Town	46	12	16	18	56	64	-8	52	DDLLD
20	Hereford	46	14	10	22	64	79	-15	52	DWWLD
21	Curzon Ashton	46	13	13	20	67	88	-21	52	DLWLD
22	Alfreton Town	46	12	14	20	49	82	-33	50	DWDDW
23	Peterborough Sports	46	10	9	27	51	96	-45	39	DLLLD
24	Leamington	46	7	8	31	41	90	-49	29	LLWLL

#	Team	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Form
1	Worthing	46	25	9	12	99	52	+47	84	WLWWW
2	AFC Hornchurch	46	23	12	11	81	64	+17	81	DWDWL
3	Torquay	46	24	8	14	87	62	+25	80	WLWWW
4	Dorking Wanderers	46	23	10	13	78	61	+17	79	DLLLL
5	Hemel Hempstead Town	46	23	10	13	55	48	+7	79	DWWDL
6	Weston-super-Mare	46	23	9	14	61	48	+13	78	DDWWW
7	Maidenhead	46	22	11	13	66	41	+25	77	DWDWD
8	Maidstone Utd ★ KENT	46	22	11	13	72	50	+22	77	WWDWW
9	Ebbsfleet United ★ KENT	46	22	11	13	73	54	+19	77	LWLWW
10	Chelmsford City	46	21	10	15	73	62	+11	73	LWDDD
11	Chesham United	46	21	9	16	68	55	+13	72	DLLWW
12	AFC Totton	46	20	6	20	60	79	-19	66	LWWWL
13	Dagenham & Redbridge	46	17	13	16	61	62	-1	64	LDLDL
14	Tonbridge Angels ★ KENT	46	16	12	18	66	65	+1	60	LWWDL
15	Horsham	46	15	14	17	53	54	-1	59	WLLDL
16	Slough Town	46	15	9	22	69	87	-18	54	WLLLD
17	Salisbury	46	14	11	21	50	65	-15	53	DWLLL
18	Hampton & Richmond	46	14	11	21	56	72	-16	53	WLDLW
19	Farnborough	46	14	11	21	72	92	-20	53	WLWWL
20	Dover ★ KENT	46	13	11	22	60	75	-15	50	DLLLL
21	Bath City	46	10	13	23	50	77	-27	43	LWLWL
22	Chippenham Town	46	11	9	26	53	80	-27	42	LLDWL
23	Enfield Town	46	9	13	24	55	82	-27	40	LWLDL
24	Eastbourne Borough	46	9	9	28	59	90	-31	36	WLLDL

BTCC 2026 Season Launches at Brands Hatch with Rainford Topping Test Times

April 11, 2026

35

Free family event draws around 9,000 to Kent circuit for testing, driver meets and new car reveals ahead of Donington opener

Around 9,000 spectators flocked to Brands Hatch on Wednesday 8 April 2026 for the official launch of the 2026 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship season. The free family event combined final pre-season testing with driver meet-and-greets, pitlane walkabouts and new livery reveals under sunny skies at the Kent circuit.

Rainford Sets the Pace

Charles Rainford dominated the timesheets in his West Surrey Racing BMW 330i M Sport, recording the fastest lap of 47.102 seconds on the Indy circuit. The time put him 0.317 seconds clear of Dan Cammish in the Alliance Racing Ford Focus Titanium – margins that reflect the championship’s famously tight competition.

Rainford’s benchmark lap was 0.4 seconds quicker than his own next-best effort. He found the perfect setup window.

Other frontrunners included Josh Cook, Dexter Patterson, Mikey Doble, and multiple champion Ashley Sutton. But not every driver chased outright pace. Ashley Sutton and Lewis Selby focused on high mileage runs rather than headline times, banking valuable data ahead of the season opener at Donington Park on 18-19 April.

New Cars, New Format

The 2026 season introduces several fresh elements to the grid. A confirmed 21-car field will feature new models including the Audi S3/A3 Saloon, Mercedes-AMG A35 Saloon, and Ford Focus Titanium saloon version.

Organisers have also added a Saturday ‘Race to Pole’ qualifying race format alongside the traditional Sunday triple-headers. The change aims to boost weekend entertainment value while maintaining the championship’s established Sunday spectacle.

Jason Plato’s transition from driver to team owner generated considerable buzz, with fresh liveries unveiled during the day’s proceedings.

Stop-Start Action

The testing sessions delivered typical BTCC drama despite their pre-season nature.

Red flags caused stop-start interruptions throughout the day, giving fans a taste of the chaos that makes the championship compelling. Yet the twisty Indy layout still provided exciting wheel-to-wheel action. The tight confines and elevation changes that make Brands Hatch the championship’s ‘spiritual home’ were on full display.

Season Schedule Confirmed

Brands Hatch will host two race weekends in 2026. The circuit returns on 9-10 May for an Indy circuit triple-header before staging the season finale on 10-11 October using the full Grand Prix layout.

The launch event was praised for bringing motorsport to a wider audience, with younger fans especially visible among the crowd accessing free entertainment.

Key Takeaways

Charles Rainford topped pre-season testing with a 47.102-second lap, 0.317s ahead of Dan Cammish
The 2026 BTCC features 21 cars including new Audi, Mercedes and Ford models
Around 9,000 fans attended the free launch event at Brands Hatch on 8 April

What This Means for Kent Residents

Brands Hatch’s role as BTCC headquarters brings major economic benefits to west Kent, with thousands of visitors spending money on parking, food and merchandise even at free events. The circuit’s two 2026 race weekends will generate substantial tourism revenue for the Sevenoaks District while supporting local jobs in hospitality, security and maintenance. Residents near Swanley can expect increased traffic during race weekends but also enhanced community profile as the championship’s spiritual home continues attracting national attention.

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