Rounds 19, 20, and 21 of the 2026 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship were bruising for Restart Racing, with Dan Lloyd and Chris Smiley both experiencing race-ending issues.
Saturday saw the pair of Hyundai i30N Fastbacks battle through a testing day where Chris struggled with rotation and Dan reacquainted himself with the car on return. Free Practice saw the pair take 16th and 17th, while they qualified 13th and 16th following the Race to Pole.
Gorgeous weather saw a seemingly rare rainless trio of BTCC races around Donington Park’s 2.49-mile GP layout, vastly differing in challenge from the season-starting National layout due to the added Melbourne Loop.
Both drivers opted to start Race One on the hard compound, ridding its requirement for the remaining two races, while testing overnight car tweaks. Chris started strong and gained two places on the opening tour, while Dan gained one position from an ailing Sam Osborne. The running was disrupted by the safety car, following a big crash for Lewis Gilbert, but Dan quickly engaged in a battle with Charles Rainford once racing resumed on lap six.
Chris would also find himself in a big fight with Mikel Doble, Lewis Selby, and Aiden Moffat, and fell to 14th on lap 10. Daryl De Leon threatened Dan’s position at the same time, but the #123 Restart Racing car fought hard, gained one place as Josh Cook dropped out of the race, and got 15th back on lap 12. The next lap, Chris pushed past Selby and gained 13th, awarding the team three points at the flag while Dan brought home the final point-paying position.
However, Chris would be awarded a five-second time penalty post-race for an overboost infringement, demoting him to 16th and promoting Dan to 14th in the process.
Race Two brought a great drive for Chris, but bitter heartbreak for Dan on his return weekend. Starting from 16th due to his penalty, Chris quickly climbed to 15th on lap one as Dan lost ground off the line. Two further clinical overtakes would follow as our #22 dispatched Tom Chilton and Selby, while Dan battled Rainford and eventually got past Selby to recover to 16th.
Chris’ firm charge continued, clearing a fading Gordon Shedden on lap eight and Rainford on lap 10 for 11th. In a final lap of contrasting fortunes: Chris hopped past De Leon while a fuel-line failure forced Dan to peel off the circuit with a fire that would ultimately end his weekend. An element of consolation came for the squad post-race, where the reverse-grid draw rewarded Chris’ drive with pole position for Race Three.
While Dan’s side of the garage suffered misfortune in Race Two, it was Chris’ turn in Race Three on a weekend that was simply not meant to be for Restart Racing. Chris piloted his Hyundai i30N Fastback well from pole position, fending off in-form Adam Morgan by taking the inside line through Redgate. The fight continued through The Esses, with Chris braking late to hold his position through the first lap.
However, Morgan would eventually find his breakthrough on lap two, getting by at McLeans as a compromised exit also saw Aiden Moffat and Dexter Patterson through. Contact would then see Chris half-spin at Melbourne as he fought back, demoting him to P7, before a bold move saw him nudge back up to P5 at the Schwantz Curve. Unfortunately, that was all for Chris’ Race Three, with a misfire forcing him to retire before he even got a chance to settle.
Chris said:
“So that’s our Sunday all over and done at Donington GP. It’s been a very tough day today.
“Race One this morning made a little bit of progress and, unfortunately, the car over boosted on Race One. So yeah, five second penalty put us back down to 16th for Race Two.
“Race Two pushed our way forward got ourselves into the top 10, finished 10th. Car felt good, pretty sensible race.
“I ended up on pole for Race Three, got a good start, got my head down and yeah everything sort of went backwards from there on in.
“I had contact at the Melbourne Hairpin with another car, just took me out at the hairpin. And then a lap later we had an issue with the engine. The engine started to misfire.
“It just kind of sums up our weekend. It’s been a tough one, that’s for sure. And yeah, need to really regroup and refocus on Croft in a few weeks time.”
Dan said:
“So round up of the weekend, not very good – not the comeback that I’d hoped for.
“Quite a few struggles in terms of issues going wrong, which sort of dampened our progression early on.
“But then obviously in the second race, the engine caught fire. And that’s the end of our day today.
“Fuel line came apart. Engine went on fire. Managed to stop it as quick as I can set the extinguisher off. But, the damage was done.
“And unfortunately, fire is one of the worst things, and it damaged the brake lines so the boys could have rushed and tried to get it out, but there was too much of a risk, so made the correct decision of taking it back to the workshop, doing it properly.
“And yeah, not the best. Great to be back. Not a good weekend but yeah fingers crossed we come back for Croft a lot stronger.”
While Sunday’s action at Donington Park GP proved difficult for the squad, Restart Racing will regroup and push forward ahead of Croft, the next round of the 2026 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship.
Championship Standings
Following the Donington Park GP meeting:
Drivers’ Championship: Smiley 16th
Teams’ Championship: 7th
Independent Drivers: Smiley 8th, Lloyd 12th
Independent Teams: 4th