The 2026 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship arrived in Dunfermline, Fife at the wonderful Knockhill circuit for Rounds 16, 17, and 18.

At just 1.27-miles long, Knockhill is the narrowest and one of the shortest circuits of the campaign, and a completely different challenge to the previous rounds at Thruxton. Yet it’s also one of the drivers’ and teams’ favourite places to visit and race at.

Saturday’s Qualifying Sessions saw a majority of the field allocated twenty seconds of boost per lap, except for Napa Racing UK duo Ash Sutton (one second per lap) and Dan Cammish (five seconds per lap). All drivers also used the soft tyres throughout the sessions.

The two qualifying groups gave drivers fifteen minutes to set a fastest time, with Dan Cammish and Sam Osborne placed in Group One. With the top ten separated by just half a second, Cammish set a time of 51.302 which was good enough for seventh, while Osborne set a time of 51.333 which placed him ninth.

Meanwhile, Ash Sutton and Lewis Selby were placed in Group Two whereby Sutton qualified in eighth with a best time of 51.224. Selby finished the session in ninth, with a time of 51.473. Those times translated to thirteenth (Cammish), sixteenth (Sutton), seventeenth (Osborne), and eighteenth (Selby) on the grid for the Race To Pole.

RACE TO POLE (20 Laps)

The Race To Pole was a 17-lap race to determine the grid for Sunday’s main racing at this short circuit, and all drivers were booted with the soft tyre compound. Dan Cammish had five seconds per lap of boost available, while Ash Sutton had just the solitary second per lap available. Both Sam Osborne and Lewis Selby had twenty seconds per lap at their disposal.

The start saw all four Napa Racing UK Ford Focus Titaniums gain places, as the Safety Car was deployed due to Josh Cook crashing out of the contest. That meant that we’d have a 20-lap race, which restarted on the seventh lap.

Both Cammish and Sutton got by the Audi A3 Saloon of Dexter Patterson as rain began to fall. By lap nine, the Napa Racing UK duo found themselves stuck in a train behind the Team Vertu Hyundia i30N of Tom Ingram, Mikey Doble (Audi A3 Saloon), and the Restart Racing Hyundia i30N of James Dorlin. Further back saw Osborne and Selby stuck behind Aron Taylor-Smith and Dexter Patterson, before Lewis Gilbert (WSR BMW 330i M Sport) got by Selby on lap thirteen.

Up ahead saw Cammish follow Ingram to get by Dorlin’s Hyundia i30N at Clark’s corner, but Sutton couldn’t make his move on the Restart Racing driver through Hislops stick, so settled in behind until another opportunity presented itself.

Dorlin’s superior boost helped him to get by Cammish on the pit straight (lap 14), however, both Cammish and Sutton overtook the Hyundia on the run through Duffus Dip and Leslie’s. Meanwhile, Selby got by his teammate Osborne at Taylor’s Hairpin on lap 16, before Ryan Bensley (Speedworks Corolla Racing Toyota Corolla GR Sport) overtook the number 77 Ford Focus Titanium at Duffus Dip on the next lap. Osborne did return the favour on Bensley on the pit straight to claim 18th place on the last lap, while Selby finished 17th, Sutton 11th, and Cammish 10th on what was a difficult Saturday for the Napa Racing UK drivers.

RACE 1 (27 Laps)

The first race of Sunday saw the majority of the grid on the wet tyres due to rain. That included the Napa Racing UK Fords, which lined up in 10th (Cammish), 11th (Sutton), 17th (Selby), and 18th (Osborne). Both Sam Osborne and Lewis Selby had the full allocation of ten laps of boost available, while Dan Cammish had five laps and Ash Sutton just the one lap at his disposal for this 24-lap race.

Despite visibility being a challenge, all four Ford Focus Titaniums got off the line well as the lights went out. By the start of the second lap Ash Sutton had risen to ninth, but Dan Cammish had dropped back to 11th place. Sam Osborne was up to 15th, while Lewis Selby had fallen down to nineteenth place in this fiercely competitive BTCC field.

Sutton got by the Audi A3 Saloon of Mikey Doble at Leslie’s to begin fighting with the BMW 330i M Sport of Daryl De Leon, Chris Smiley’s Restart Racing Hyundia i30N, and the Team Vertu Hyundia i30N of Tom Ingram on the run through Taylor’s Hairpin. Dan Cammish meanwhile was keeping a watching brief behind.

Cammish relieved Doble of ninth place on lap four, while Sutton got by De Leon on the line to begin lap five in 6th place. Further back, Osborne got by James Dorlin to take 14th place on the run down Hislops and, by the end of the next lap, he’d find himself up in 12th. Unfortunately, Cammish was then hit with a 10-second penalty for a false start which ended any possibility of him reaching the podium.

Sutton was now embroiled in a battle with the BMW 330i M Sport of Charles Rainford and the Team Vertu Hyundia i30N of Ricky Collard for fourth place, and he got by Rainford on the run through Clark’s and Hislops (lap 8). He then took fourth away from Collard with a brilliant move through Leslie’s on the 10th lap. And now in clear air, he took the fastest lap away from teammate Cammish (lap 11).

Cammish meanwhile remained in his position, as he was stuck behind Tom Ingram and Charles Rainford. Sam Osborne was also stuck in his position at this point (lap 8), while Lewis Selby was fighting with the Toyota Corolla GR Sport of Josh Cook further back. He did claim 18th place when Chris Smiley was pushed off wide earlier in the lap though, before both he and Osborne were promoted a place when Rainford had to pit his BMW 330i M Sport (lap 15).

Lap seventeen saw the Safety Car deployed after Cook had pushed Lewis Gilbert (WSR BMW 330i M Sport) off and out of the race, which promoted Selby another place to just outside the points. The race resumed on lap 23 of what would now be a 27-lap race and, when De Leon understeered wide while exiting Butcher’s, Osborne was promoted to 12th place on the penultimate lap.

Sutton took the chequered flag in a solid fourth place, while Cammish finished 7th on the road. Sadly his penalty dropped him down to 18th place, while Osborne and Selby finished 10th and 14th respectively.

RACE 2 (27 Laps)

The second 24-lap race saw a virtually dry track and all four Napa Racing UK Fords on the soft tyres. Ash Sutton started 4th (with 7 laps of boost available), Sam Osborne started 10th (with 14 laps of boost).  Lewis Selby was 13th on the grid (with 14 laps of boost), while Dan Cammish started down in 18th (with 14 laps of boost).

Ash Sutton got away well to snatch third place off of Gordon Shedden (Toyota Corolla GR Sport), before the Safety Car was deployed for the stricken Audi A3 Saloon of Aiden Moffat. The other three Ford Focus Titaniums all climbed the field at the start, with Osborne up to 7th, Selby in 12th, and Cammish right behind him in 13th place.

Racing resumed on lap six of what would now be a 27-lap race, and on the run through McIntyre’s, Sutton got past the Plato Racing Mercedes A35 Saloon of Dan Rowbottom on the next lap. Osborne was looking particularly feisty as he battled with the Audi A3 Saloons of Dexter Patterson and Mikey Doble, while Cammish and Selby got by Aron Taylor-Smith (Toyota Corolla GR Sport) and Josh Cook (Speedworks Corolla Racing Toyota Corolla GR Sport) respectively.

Laps nine and ten saw Sam Osborne lose out to De Leon and his teammate Dan Cammish, before Lewis Selby lost out to the BMW 330i M Sport of Charles Rainford on the next lap. Up front meanwhile, Ash Sutton pulled out to break late to take the lead of the race away from Adam Morgan (Plato Racing Mercedes A35 Saloon) on the entrance to Taylor’s Hairpin.

With a ten-car train stuck behind the Toyota Corolla GR Sport of Gordon Shedden, Osborne would drop behind De Leon, Taylor-Smith, and Rainford as cars began tripping over each other (lap 12). But both he and teammate Selby did get back past Chris Smiley and Aron Taylor-Smith two laps later.

With Cammish getting bottled up behind the Audi A3 Saloon of Dexter Patterson, Rainford got a good launch out of the hairpin to overtake the number 27 Ford Focus Titanium on the run up the pit straight (lap 17), before Smiley tried to get by Cammish on the 22nd lap as well, only to crash out of the race with a broken left front! Thus, prompting another Safety Car intervention on the next lap.

Racing resumed on the penultimate lap, leaving the field to fight it out in a one-lap dash to the finish. Sutton took the chequered flag to secure his seventh win of the season as well as the fastest lap. Meanwhile, his teammates all finished line asturn, with Cammish finishing 9th, Osborne 10th, and Selby 11th. Ash Sutton’s victory was the 54th of his career, which ties him with Gordon Shedden in the all-time winners list.

RACE 3 (24 Laps)

The final race of the weekend was the usual Reversed Grid Race. This 24-lapper saw the Napa Racing UK drivers all on the medium tyre compound, while three of them had the full allocation of 14 laps of boost available to them. Ash Sutton was the odd man out with just four laps of boost at his disposal.

They lined up with Lewis Selby in second place, Sam Osborne third, Dan Cammish fourth, and Ash Sutton in 12th as the sun was shining for the weekend’s curtain closer.

They all got away well at the start to maintain position, except Sutton who’d already jumped up into ninth place. Cammish would get by Osborne at the Taylor’s Hairpin on lap three, before the number 77 Ford slid off into the gravel after a little tap from Dexter Patterson at McIntyre’s (lap 5). Osborne would then pit before enduring a rather lonely race to take the chequered flag in 21st place.

Both Cammish and Selby lost out to the soft-tyred Mercedes A35 Saloon of Adam Morgan on laps seven and nine respectively, but Cammish did get by his teammate Selby as well (lap 9). Unfortunately the next lap was a difficult one for the Napa Racing UK crew, as Selby lost out to Dexter Patterson and Charles Rainford, while Sutton got bullied by Daryl De Leon, Josh Cook, Mikey Doble, and Tom Ingram, before then losing out to Aiden Moffat’s Audi A3 Saloon on the pit straight (lap 11)!

By lap twelve the championship leader found himself to be the meat in a Restart Racing sandwich, as both Chris Smiley and James Dorlin force their way past the Ford Focus Titanium on the pit straight. Sutton was having none of it though, and he returned the favour on Dorlin on the run through the Butcher’s and Black Circles Chicane complex.

Lewis Selby lost out to Dan Rowbottom, Daryl De Leon, and Josh Cook (lap 14), before defending desperately from the fast Hyundias of Ricky Collard and Tom Ingram (lap 16). Collard eventually got by the Ford at Duffus Dip on the next lap, but Selby put in a superb defensive drive to keep Ingram at bay! But he eventually lost out to the championship challenger on the next lap, which also saw Mikey Doble get by as well.

Ash Sutton got past the Audi A3 Saloon of Aiden Moffat on lap nineteen, before getting by Selby on the run down Hislops and into the Taylor’s Hairpin on the next lap. The Napa Racing UK duo had ran out of boost by this point, which meant they’d make no further progress up the field.

Meanwhile, Dan Cammish remained in third place and was chasing after Adam Morgan and Tom Chilton. And that’s where he’d finish to take the chequered flag to score a solid podium position. Ash Sutton finished in 12th, with Lewis Selby fending off the Restart Racing duo to finish behind his teammate in 13th. Sam Osborne recovered from his earlier excursion to finish 21st.

As the dust settled in Scotland, Ash Sutton remains at the summit of the Drivers’ Championship table with 327 points. Dan Cammish remains third with 233 points, while Sam Osborne is 18th (54 points) and Lewis Selby 20th (27 points).

Alliance Racing/Ford lead the race for the Manufacturers/Constructors Championship with 564 points, while Napa Racing UK lead the Teams Championship with 493 points.

The Jack Sears Trophy table sees Sam Osborne in third place with 208 points, while Lewis Selby is right behind his teammate in fourth with 206 points.

By Chris Palmer