Power Maxed Racing claimed a 1-2-4 in British Touring Car Championship free practice at Knockhill on the first anniversary of its miracle return from a disastrous fire.
The Midlands squad’s Vauxhall Astras were among the casualties of the blaze, which destroyed its premises 12 months ago.
But the team arrived phoenix-like at Knockhill with loaned and hastily prepared Cupra Leons, with which it finished the 2025 season.
Twelve months on, three of PMR’s new-for-2026 Audi A3 Saloons featured at the sharp end of the 50-minute weekend warm-up.
Aiden Moffat led the way from Dexter Patterson in a Scottish 1-2 for the BTCC’s annual trip north of the border, to the tune of 0.080 seconds, while Mikey Doble - the top PMR driver in the points standings - was fourth.
Patterson was on a further hot lap when he lost it at Duffus Dip, bouncing across the grass before regaining the circuit.
Even before free practice, this was a landmark weekend for PMR, which has expanded to a four-car entry for the first time. The returning Nick Halstead is making his first BTCC appearance of 2026 with the team, and he brought up the rear of the 23-car field.
Among the Audis were the Plato Racing Mercedes A35 Saloons, with Dan Rowbottom going third fastest and Adam Morgan fifth. Rowbottom set the fastest ‘theoretical’ best of the session based on a merger of best sector times, but was one of six to be sin-binned for accumulated track-limits offences.
The Midlander, Lewis Selby and James Dorlin were all black-flagged towards the end of the session, while Dan Cammish, Nic Hamilton and Ricky Collard were all pulled in earlier.
Sixth and seventh were two of the Hyundai i30 N Fastbacks, with Chris Smiley of Restart Racing leading the Excelr8 Motorsport machine of reigning champion Tom Ingram.
Eighth was Daryl De Leon in his West Surrey Racing BMW 330i M Sport, ahead of the fastest of the Speedworks Motorsport-run Toyota Corolla GR Sports in the hands of Aron Taylor-Smith, and Collard’s Excelr8 Hyundai.
Collard is celebrating the extension of what was initially a half-season deal with Excelr8, and guarantees him a further three rounds – Knockhill, Donington Park and Croft.
Runaway championship leader Ash Sutton was buried in the midfield with his team-mates from the Alliance Racing-run NAPA Ford Focus Titanium squad, with 14th place amid a 13-14-15-16 for the team.
BTCC Knockhill practice results
FiP
| Cla | Driver | # | Car | Laps | Time | Interval | km/h | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  A. Moffat LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing |
16 | Audi A3 Saloon | 35 | 50.840 |
89.710 | ||||
| 2 | D. Patterson Steel Seal with Power Maxed Racing | 17 | Audi A3 Saloon | 34 | +0.080 50.920 |
0.080 | 89.569 | |||
| 3 | D. Rowbottom Cataclean Plato Racing |
32 | Mercedes A35 Saloon | 34 | +0.091 50.931 |
0.011 | 89.549 | |||
| 4 | M. Doble LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing | 88 | Audi A3 Saloon | 34 | +0.116 50.956 |
0.025 | 89.505 | |||
| 5 | A. Morgan Cataclean Plato Racing |
33 | Mercedes A35 Saloon | 39 | +0.124 50.964 |
0.008 | 89.491 | |||
| 6 | C. Smiley Restart Racing |
22 | Hyundai i30N | 33 | +0.156 50.996 |
0.032 | 89.435 | |||
| 7 | T. Ingram Team Vertu |
80 | Hyundai i30N | 32 | +0.243 51.083 |
0.087 | 89.283 | |||
| 8 | D. De Leon West Surrey Racing | 2 | BMW 330i M Sport | 33 | +0.312 51.152 |
0.069 | 89.162 | |||
| 9 |  A. Taylor-Smith Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport |
50 | Toyota Corolla GR Sport | 27 | +0.320 51.160 |
0.008 | 89.149 | |||
| 10 | R. Collard Team Vertu |
11 | Hyundai i30N | 34 | +0.358 51.198 |
0.038 | 89.082 | |||
| 11 | C. Rainford West Surrey Racing | 99 | BMW 330i M Sport | 34 | +0.394 51.234 |
0.036 | 89.020 | |||
| 12 | T. Chilton Team Vertu |
3 | Hyundai i30N | 40 | +0.441 51.281 |
0.047 | 88.938 | |||
| 13 | D. Cammish NAPA Racing UK |
27 | Ford Focus Titanium | 28 | +0.548 51.388 |
0.107 | 88.753 | |||
| 14 | A. Sutton NAPA Racing UK |
116 | Ford Focus Titanium | 38 | +0.552 51.392 |
0.004 | 88.746 | |||
| 15 | S. Osborne NAPA Racing UK |
77 | Ford Focus Titanium | 37 | +0.580 51.420 |
0.028 | 88.698 | |||
| 16 | L. Selby NAPA Racing UK | 15 | Ford Focus Titanium | 37 | +0.646 51.486 |
0.066 | 88.584 | |||
| 17 | J. Cook Speedworks Corolla Racing |
66 | Toyota Corolla GR Sport | 32 | +0.747 51.587 |
0.101 | 88.411 | |||
| 18 | N. Hamilton Team Vertu | 28 | Hyundai i30N | 29 | +0.754 51.594 |
0.007 | 88.399 | |||
| 19 | J. Dorlin Restart Racing | 132 | Hyundai i30N | 31 | +0.771 51.611 |
0.017 | 88.370 | |||
| 20 | G. Shedden Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport |
52 | Toyota Corolla GR Sport | 24 | +0.836 51.676 |
0.065 | 88.258 | |||
| 21 | L. Gilbert West Surrey Racing | 29 | BMW 330i M Sport | 35 | +0.877 51.717 |
0.041 | 88.188 | |||
| 22 | R. Bensley Speedworks Corolla Racing | 7 | Toyota Corolla GR Sport | 35 | +0.995 51.835 |
0.118 | 87.988 | |||
| 23 | N. Halstead Steel Seal with Power Maxed Racing | 55 | Audi A3 Saloon | 38 | +1.985 52.825 |
0.990 | 86.339 | |||
| View full results | ||||||||||
