WSR began the British Touring Car Championship in the thick of the action as the 2025 season got underway with three thrilling races at Donington Park.
A pair of top-four finishes for reigning Drivers’ Champion Jake Hill and three strong results for Aiden Moffat gave cause for optimism as the 18-time title-winning team continued to work through set-up refinements on their BMW 330i M Sports.
Having qualified eighth, Jake Hill surged forwards during the opening race; the Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport driver climbing to fourth place and then repeating that result in Race Two.
Tenth in the finale, after being hit by several rival cars during the 18 laps, meant that the Kent racer left Donington sixth in the championship – one place ahead of LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR debutant Aiden Moffat.
Starting Race One from 20th place after technical issues restricted his track time on Saturday, Aiden latched onto the tail of WSR stablemate Daryl DeLeon; the pair carving through the field together until they joined Charles Rainford – in the second LKQ BMW – inside the top 10.
While Charles dropped down the order following contact in the final quarter of the race, Aiden steered clear of incident and finished ninth.
The Scot was flying again in Race Two as he took seventh, but missed out on being drawn on reversed-grid pole position by just one spot. A trio of top-10 finishes ensured a strong points haul and seventh in the championship standings.
Charles, who had been as high as ninth, was in charging mood in Race Two, but was punted through the gravel trap at the chicane by a rival; a stone puncturing a tyre that caused his retirement soon after.
With an improved set-up, he climbed from the back of the grid to 16th in Race Three; the Sussex racer finishing right behind Daryl as the fought for the final point.
Daryl had shown excellent pace in Races One and Two and the Cambridgeshire driver was on course for top-10 finishes in both.
Unfortunately, he was shuffled back to 15th on the last lap of the opener and suffered as his soft-compound tyres ran out of grip with three laps of Race Two remaining; a potential seventh-place finish becoming 12th.
Jake Hill, Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport, said: “It’s been a mixed day. Ultimately we’ve made progress with the BMW over the weekend, which is all we can do at the moment. There’s still a lot more laptime to be found and the last race was pretty brutal. I’m not that sad about two fourths and a tenth. Obviously I’d love to be up on the podium where our main title rivals are, but we’ve been dealt this car and it’s where we are right now. But our time will come and we will get back to winning ways soon – I’m sure of that.”
Charles Rainford, LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR, said: “It was a baptism of fire! We had some really good speed on Saturday, but things unravelled a bit today. The racing itself was very different to what I’ve experienced before – not just the ‘push and shove’ nature of touring cars, but of how you actually use the train of cars. Race Three was better and I made some nice moves. There’s lots to work on for Brands Hatch, but we’ll take a real positive from the pace we had in the final race.”
Aiden Moffat, LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR, said: “The racing was pretty good today. To get three top-10s when we started so far back we might as well have been in Derby! To enjoy driving the BMW and really racing it was a lovely feeling. We still have work to do; both myself and the team, but if that’s us having a difficult weekend then that’s positive moving ahead for the season.”
Daryl DeLeon, WSR, said: “Today went really quickly! It was a little difficult in terms of car balance and we did struggle a little today, but we finished all three races in the points so it’s a decent starting point. We’ll have a long debrief post-weekend, work out what we can do to go quicker and come back stronger for Brands Hatch.
Dick Bennetts, Team Principal, said: “It’s been a challenging time for us recently but today was better and I’m pleased with the progress we’ve made with the BMW since Media Day, through Saturday and into the races. It was a baptism of fire for Charles in touring cars and he and Daryl both had good speed but not much luck. The results Jake and Aiden scored were encouraging and proof that we’re moving in the right direction as we look towards Brands Hatch.”
