NAPA Racing UK has its sights set on contending for outright honours in the MINI CHALLENGE JCW this year after confirming the high-profile signing of former Directors Cup champion, Joe Tanner.

In what is a true statement of intent from the race-winning outfit, Tanner makes a triumphant return to the grid this year, where he’ll join Cameron Richardson to don the striking blue and yellow NAPA colours.

Having stepped away from racing for a couple of seasons, the Scotsman – who operates the globally recognised helmet painting company Rennat Design – is widely regarded as one of the series’ leading lights of the modern era.

Boasting a rich racing pedigree, which has previously seen him compete in the Scottish MINI Cooper Cup and be crowned a Scottish Formula Ford Champion, Tanner lifted the Directors Cup in 2023 and came oh-so close to claiming an outright win on multiple occasions in the process.

Now ready to do battle once more, Tanner is relishing the prospect of fighting towards the front of the field in what is the latest iteration of MINI car, with the off-season having seen Alliance Racing upgrade both cars with the all-new F66 bodywork kit.

“I’m so happy to be back in the MINI CHALLENGE,” enthused Tanner. “I love the JCW Championship, and it is a dream come true to be back, especially with such an iconic brand such as NAPA and with the amazing Alliance Racing team.

I can’t thank Pete Osborne and Steve Richardson enough for entrusting me with such an incredible opportunity. It’s going to be as competitive as ever this year, but I’m confident we can be in the mix – I can’t wait to get going.”

Richardson will remain with the team for a fourth successive campaign, having debuted in the Coopers before then making the jump up to the JCW Sport category and then last year, the JCW Class.

With the benefit of being in the same car for a second consecutive year, Richardson – who made history by becoming the first ever JCW Sport race winner – is eager to build on the foundations that have been laid in recent years.

“This year marks the first time that I’m returning to the same car, so I’m excited to see how much progress we can make,” said Richardson. “We’ve got a new bodykit on the car, so it will be interesting to see how that affects tyre degradation, etc – the handling shouldn’t change too much.

I’m really looking forward to hitting the ground running from the very first round, though. A focus of mine this season is to work more closely with our engineers and to try extract the absolute maximum out of each session. That should, in turn, put us in a strong position each weekend.”

The 2026 MINI CHALLENGE JCW season commences at Donington Park on April 18-19.