Round 24: Doble Picks Up the Pieces
We covered Rounds 22 and 23 last week but the reversed-grid finale at Croft deserves its own spotlight because it was absolute bedlam. Mikey Doble led from reversed-grid pole and kept his head while the championship's biggest names lost theirs behind him. Sutton, Ingram and Ricky Collard were all eliminated in separate incidents. All three. Gone. Dan Cammish survived the wreckage but could only manage a distant finish. Doble meanwhile drove a clean, composed race to take his third career BTCC victory and his second of 2026. The Power Maxed Audi is genuinely quick now and Doble is starting to look like a driver who belongs at the sharp end of this championship every single weekend. He is only 22 years old. That is a frightening thought for the rest of the grid.
What Round 24 Means for the Title Fight
The carnage behind Doble reshuffled the championship picture in ways that matter. Sutton's DNF was his first non-score of the season but his 115-point lead means the damage is cosmetic rather than structural. Ingram needed a miracle weekend to close the gap and instead he left Croft with a DNS and zero points from Round 24. Collard's retirement was equally costly. The net result is that Sutton can now wrap up a record-breaking fifth title at Silverstone on 20/21 September. He does not even need to win. He just needs to not have a disaster. Given how rarely this man has a bad day, the coronation feels inevitable.
Gilbert Bounces Back in Style
Here is a story that deserves more attention than it got. Lewis Gilbert had a horror show at Donington GP where his weekend included a spectacular roll in Round 19. Most rookies would arrive at Croft with their confidence in pieces. Gilbert did the opposite. The young Scot scored strong points across the weekend and WSR were visibly pleased with his progress. He is learning at an extraordinary rate. The gap between him and teammates Charles Rainford and Daryl De Leon is shrinking with every outing and his racecraft through Croft's tighter sections showed a maturity that belies his inexperience. WSR clearly saw something when they handed him that seat mid-season and he is starting to repay their faith.
Rowbottom and CPRL Keep Rolling
Dan Rowbottom topped free practice at Croft and the CPRL Mercedes operation continued its remarkable run of form. Since Adam Morgan's triple at Donington, this team has been one of the most consistent outfits on the grid. Rowbottom did not grab a headline result at Croft but he was in the mix all weekend and the team's engineering baseline is clearly strong. Morgan and Rowbottom are now genuine contenders for podiums at every round. For a team that was in administration just weeks ago, that is a testament to the people behind the scenes who kept it all together.
Team VERTU: Fast but Frustrated
Tom Ingram's weekend summed up Team VERTU's season in miniature. The pace was undeniably there. Ingram crossed the line first in Round 22 but a five-second track limits penalty dropped him to third. Then he got wiped out in the Round 24 carnage. Three podiums across the weekend sounds decent on paper but the team left Croft knowing they left points on the table. Ingram is driving as well as anyone not named Sutton but the margins keep going against him. With Silverstone and Brands Hatch remaining, he needs clean weekends and he needs Sutton to falter. Neither looks especially likely right now.
Restart Racing Find Form at the Right Time
Restart bounced back from a tough Donington outing with a much stronger showing at Croft. Dan Lloyd's return to the team is already paying dividends. Having an experienced race winner alongside Chris Smiley gives the Hyundai squad a proper reference point and both drivers picked up solid results across the three races. Lloyd knows these closing rounds well from his Independent title campaign last year and Restart look like a team capable of troubling the top ten consistently through to the end of the season.
Penalty Points Watch
Track limits were the hot topic all weekend at Croft. The stewards took a harder line than we have seen at previous rounds and Tom Ingram paid the heaviest price with his five-second penalty in Round 22. Multiple drivers had qualifying laps deleted during the pole shootout for the same reason. Josh Cook himself only secured pole on his very last attempt after earlier laps were scrubbed. Whether you agree with the enforcement or not, it directly shaped the results and the title picture. If any licence penalty points were issued beyond the time penalties, details have not been formally confirmed at the time of writing. Keep an eye on the official bulletins before Silverstone because accumulated points could yet play a role in the final two weekends.
Two Rounds Left: Silverstone and Brands Hatch
The championship heads to Silverstone National on 20/21 September and could be decided that very weekend. Sutton needs to outscore Ingram by a relatively modest margin to seal the deal. After that it is the traditional Brands Hatch GP season finale. The prospect of Sutton clinching a fifth title at Silverstone and then arriving at Brands with nothing to lose is either thrilling or terrifying depending on your allegiance. For the rest of the grid, the fight for second in the championship is where the real drama lies. Ingram, Cammish, Collard and Cook are all within range of each other and the Independents' battle is equally tight. Plenty still to play for even if the top prize looks sewn up.