Restart Racing battled through a dramatic day of mixed conditions at Knockhill, with Chris Smiley and James Dorlin overcoming several setbacks to conclude the weekend with a double points finish.
The team entered Sunday encouraged by its strongest qualifying performance of the 2026 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship season. Chris secured fourth in Saturday’s Race to Pole, while James demonstrated promising pace before contact dropped him from the top eight to 15th.
A heavy downpour shortly before Race One transformed the circuit, leaving standing water, limited visibility and treacherous conditions for the opening race. The whole grid, including both Restart Racing cars started on wet tyres.
Chris started from fourth but dropped to fifth when Charles Rainford passed him at Duffus Dip on the opening lap. James made an excellent start from 15th, gaining two positions to move into 13th.
The difficult conditions soon began to affect Chris, who was struggling with a misted windscreen, causing extreme visibility problems. After losing ground to Ricky Collard and Daryl De Leon, he was forced onto the outside at Taylor’s Hairpin, allowing Tom Ingram and Ashley Sutton to move through.
Dan Cammish and Mikey Doble passed Chris on lap four before Aiden Moffat found a way past at Taylor’s Hairpin two laps later.
Both drivers struggled for pace and visibility during the opening stages. James moved ahead of Chris at Taylor’s Hairpin on lap seven, placing the two Restart Racing cars 13th and 14th.
Chris’s race became even more challenging when contact from Árón Taylor-Smith sent him off the circuit at McIntyre’s. He recovered in 19th, while Dexter Patterson passed James as the pair continued to battle in the midfield.
The pace of both cars improved as the race developed. James began closing on Sam Osborne and Patterson, while Chris recovered a position when Lewis Gilbert was sent into the gravel at Clark’s following contact with Josh Cook. The incident brought out the Safety Car.
Racing eventually resumed for a final four-lap sprint. James briefly passed Osborne before being repassed, while Chris regained a position after Rainford was sent into a spin.
Contact from De Leon forced James wide at the exit of Taylor’s Hairpin on lap 26, dropping him to 15th before Lewis Selby passed him on the final lap.
James initially crossed the line in 16th, directly ahead of Chris in 17th. Both drivers were subsequently promoted one position following a ten-second penalty for Cammish, leaving James 15th and Chris 16th.
With the circuit dry for Race Two, both drivers switched to the soft tyre. James started 15th, with Chris alongside him in 16th.
Both Restart Racing drivers gained a position during a chaotic opening lap. Ingram returned to the pits with damage, while Moffat retired after leaving the circuit at Duffus Dip. The Safety Car was deployed to allow the stricken car to be recovered.
Racing resumed on lap five, with the race extended to 27 laps. Chris initially lost a position to Rainford but soon began working his way through the field.
James came under pressure following the restart, losing places to Rainford, Chris, Tom Chilton and Gilbert.
Chris moved into 14th after passing Cook on lap ten. Four laps later, he overtook Taylor-Smith at Duffus Dip before producing a late-braking move down the inside of Selby at Taylor’s Hairpin.
The progress continued on lap 16 when Chris passed Osborne at Taylor’s Hairpin, which was quickly becoming Chris’s favourite overtaking corner of the weekend, to climb into 11th. James was also recovering, moving ahead of Cook and Gilbert to gain two positions.
De Leon’s retirement promoted Chris to tenth and James to 15th before Chris passed Cammish at Taylor’s Hairpin to take ninth.
However, Chris’s impressive recovery ended on lap 22. Earlier contact had damaged the front upright, which failed as he approached Duffus Dip and sent the car into the gravel. The incident caused Restart Racing’s first retirement of the season and brought out another Safety Car.
James moved into 13th after passing Taylor-Smith, but the Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport driver reclaimed the position when racing resumed for a one-lap sprint. James therefore completed Race Two in 14th.
Both cars ran the medium tyre for the final race, which had proved to be the slower compound across the day. James started 14th, while Chris lined up 20th following his Race Two retirement.
Chris immediately began making progress, gaining two positions on the opening lap. James then passed De Leon at Duffus Dip on lap two, but contact from the BMW driver at Leslie’s forced him wide and dropped him to 18th.
Chris climbed to 16th before losing a position to Ingram on lap three. He moved into the points after passing Taylor-Smith and gaining another place when Osborne crashed out from fifth.
James overtook Taylor-Smith on lap seven before both Restart Racing drivers became involved in a close battle with championship leader Sutton.
Chris attacked Sutton at Taylor’s Hairpin, creating an opportunity for James to make it three-wide along the pit straight. Both Restart Racing cars initially moved ahead before Sutton reclaimed a position from James at McIntyre’s.
Sutton passed Chris at the final hairpin on lap 15, leaving the two Restart Racing cars running together. James moved ahead of Chris two laps later as the team searched for further progress.
Both drivers gained a position when Moffat locked up at McIntyre’s on lap 18. James then attempted to pass Selby at Taylor’s Hairpin but ran deep into the corner, allowing Chris to move back ahead at Duffus Dip.
Chris and James spent the closing laps searching for a way past Selby but were unable to dislodge the NAPA Racing UK driver. Chris took the chequered flag in 14th, with James directly behind in 15th, securing a double points finish for the team.
Chris said:
“That’s Knockhill finished for another year. It promised to be one of our best weekends after the pace we showed in qualifying and the Race to Pole.“Unfortunately, I started Race One from 4th and had an issue with my heated windscreen. I genuinely couldn’t see where I was going, so we fell back and eventually finished 16th.
“We made great progress in Race Two and climbed from 16th to ninth. Unfortunately, I had a slight lock-up on some water on the inside at Taylor’s Hairpin and made unintentional contact with another car. That damaged the front upright, which then failed as I went into Duffus Dip and caused our first DNF of the season.
“We started Race Three from 20th on the medium tyre, which was the slower of the two compounds we had to use, and recovered to finish 14th.
“We’re going home feeling as though we’ve let a weekend get away from us because it could have delivered much more.”
James said:
“That’s Knockhill done, and it’s been a really, really tough weekend. We had the pace to be right at the front, but we weren’t in the right place at the right time and kept getting pushed around.“In Race Three, we were moving forward during the opening laps and the car felt good. Unfortunately, I was pushed wide on lap two, and that incident is being reviewed. It compromised our race because, although we recovered several positions, we had lost too much ground through that initial contact.
“That’s touring car racing, unfortunately, especially around a circuit like Knockhill. It’s one to put behind us, and I’m really looking forward to Donington Park and seeing what we can achieve there.”
Ending Para 1
Ending Para 2
Championship Standings
Following the ‘insert round number sixth round:
Drivers’ Championship: Smiley 15th, Dorlin 17th
Teams’ Championship: 7th
Independent Drivers: Smiley 7th, Dorlin 6th
Independent Teams: 4th
Jack Sears Trophy: Dorlin 2nd