Daryl DeLeon put WSR back on the podium at Croft on an intense day of British Touring Car Championship racing on Sunday. The Cambridgeshire-based racer, who celebrated his 20th birthday a day earlier, was on inspired form in North Yorkshire as he scored his second rostrum result of 2025 and bagged a brace of Jack Sears Trophy (JST) wins to maintain his category advantage.
“You could call today ‘mixed’. On the one hand we’ve had some encouraging performances from all three drivers, who have been able to go forwards whenever they were on the soft tyre,” commented Dick Bennetts, Team Principal. “Daryl’s finished on the podium with a very good drive in Race Two and Charles (Rainford) has taken the Jack Sears Trophy win overall.
“I’m disappointed for Aiden (Moffat), who defended his position well and thoroughly deserved to finish on the podium in the last race, but we’ve seen enough from the BMW today to feel like we’ve made some progress and hopefully we can do more at Knockhill.”
Daryl had already marked himself as one to watch on race day as he climbed from 10th on the grid to sixth by the Race One chequered flag, aided by a well-judged getaway in his BMW 330i M Sport.
Taking advantage of the opening race’s top three finishers being mandated to start Race Two on the unfavourable hard-compound Goodyear tyres, Brands Hatch race winner Daryl surged forwards through the 15-lap encounter.
The Anglo-Filippino moved into third place just before half-distance with a well-judged move at the final corner and never looked threatened afterwards as he scored his second career podium.
That was his second JST win of the day. He was eliminated in Race Three – an innocent victim when another car left the track at the Complex and cannoned into his BMW while attempting to rejoin.
His misfortune opened the door for LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR driver Charles Rainford to take his second JST event victory – and his first since Brands Hatch in May.
Charles’ 47-point haul was seven more than Daryl and came as a result of eighth, sixth and 13th-place finishes overall for the Sussex racer.
The BTCC rookie constantly moved forwards from his starting positions and made it up to second place within the first few corners of Race Three as he and team-mate Aiden Moffat circulated in one-two formation.
As rapid as his opening lap was, the fact that he was using the hard tyre meant it was always going to be short lived. Contact led to him dropping down the order on Lap Two and he lost further ground when he was spun from behind at the hairpin later on.
Moffat, meanwhile, achieved his best weekend points haul since the Donington Park opener. He superbly finished 13th – three places higher than he started – in Race One despite being on the hard tyre.
That ‘penalty’ taken early, he progressed well to ninth in Race Two and was then drawn on pole position for the finale’s partially-reversed grid.
Sadly, despite a firm, but fair, defence of his position, the impatience of his rivals behind led to him first losing the lead at the hairpin after receiving a tap in the rear bumper, and then to the Scotsman being the victim of an aggressive barge at the Complex at two-thirds distance.
That dropped him to sixth, which was still his best finish of the weekend and will spur him on to even more in two weeks’ time when he races on home soil at Knockhill.
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 6/10
DRIVERS
1/ Tom Ingram – 273 points
2/ Ash Sutton – 265
3/ Dan Rowbottom – 195
4/ Dan Cammish – 184
5/ Tom Chilton – 150
6/ Adam Morgan – 160
7/ Jake Hill – 143
8/ Charles Rainford – 106
11/ Daryl DeLeon – 89
13/ Aiden Moffat – 84
MANUFACTURERS
1/ Ford – 521 points
2/ Hyundai – 513
3/ BMW – 414
4/ Toyota – 299
TEAMS
1/ NAPA Racing UK – 475 points
2/ Team Vertu – 472
3/ LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR – 264
4/ Restart Racing – 229
5/ Toyota Gazoo Racing UK with IAA – 188
6/ Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport – 160
8/ WSR – 138
JACK SEARS TROPHY
1/ Daryl DeLeon – 272 points
2/ Charles Rainford – 253
3/ Sam Osborne – 239
4/ James Dorlin – 206
5/ Dexter Patterson – 184
6/ Ronan Pearson – 157
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