TEAM VERTU CHASES DONINGTON PARK VICTORY

Team VERTU will seek to add to its winning record around the Donington Park GP circuit this weekend when the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship returns to the East Midlands circuit for the seventh round of the season.
The EXCELR8-run team has enjoyed plenty of success since the full GP layout returned to the calendar in 2024 having picked up three victories, including a double success last year where Tom Ingram and Tom Chilton both made it onto the top step of the podium.
Ingram is currently the best placed of the four Team VERTU drivers in the standings but faces a huge challenge across the final four meetings of the year if he is to defend the title he won last year.
A difficult weekend in Scotland last time out saw Ingram lose ground to title rival Ash Sutton in the standings, with the gap between the two drivers currently standing at more than 80 points.
With that in mind, Ingram has no option but to go on the attack this weekend with nothing to lose in terms of the championship, with his focus firmly on adding to his win tally to strengthen his hold on second in the standings.
Ricky Collard made the most of his extended deal with the team with a sixth podium finish of the campaign at Knockhill to move up to fourth in the championship.
The former British GT Championship was one of the stars of the weekend on the shorter National layout at the start of the season when he bagged a top three finish on his return to the series for the first time since 2022.
Having been a revelation since his last minute return to the championship this season, Collard is fully focused on trying to challenge for his maiden BTCC win and will hope to make the most of the pace in the Hyundai i30 Fastback N to fight for the top step this weekend.
Tom Chilton, the most experienced driver on the grid this season, ended a difficult run of form two weeks ago at Knockhill when he battled hard to score his first win of the year.
Currently sitting in twelfth spot, Chilton continues to push for a place in the top ten of the championship standings and will hope to build on the result he scored in Scotland at a circuit where he won from pole last year.
In fact, Chilton is something of a Donington Park specialist, with three of his Team VERTU wins having come at the circuit across both layouts.
Nicolas Hamilton came close to adding to his points tally at Knockhill, picking up a best result of 16th in the final race of the weekend.
Hamilton has already scored more points this season than in any other BTCC campaign and has made encouraging progress at the wheel of the Hyundai to become a regular challenger for top 15 results.
Heading to Donington Park, Hamilton will hope to challenge for more overall points whilst also maintaining his solid position inside the Jack Sears Trophy standings.
Qualifying and the qualifying race will air live on YouTube this weekend, starting from 14:05 on Saturday. Sunday’s three races on ITV4 are scheduled for 11:45, 14:45 and 17:30.
Tom Chilton, #3 Team VERTU Hyundai i30 Fastback N, said:
“It’s been a difficult season for me but the win at Knockhill was a big boost in confidence, and it came at just the right time as we now head to a circuit where I’ve gone well in recent seasons!
“Our pace at Donington GP last year was really strong, and we go there this weekend knowing that we have a package that is capable of repeating that success.
“With four rounds still to go, there is every possibility that I could make a late surge up into the top six in the championship given how close the standings are, so my focus is on trying to maximise every race – starting this weekend.
“Hopefully I can challenge for some more silverware and build on the victory last time out.”