The closing weekend of the 2026 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship season welcomed Restart Racing to Brands Hatch GP, where Chris Smiley would make his 250th series start.
Saturday saw Chris and Dan Lloyd endure a battling qualifying day at the 2.43-mile circuit in their Hyundai i30 N Fastbacks. Both cars would display promising pace in Free Practice and get plenty of laps under their belt, before a tricky qualifying group left the pair needing to fight through the midfield during a typically-exciting Sunday.
And Sunday would first follow a pattern typical of 2026, with difficulties seeing Chris and Dan in a difficult position come the season-closing Race Three. However, the squad showed great resilience with a strong climbing drive from both to end the weekend.
An overnight penalty saw Chris set to start Race One from a grid position one better – 13th, as Dan sat 17th and targeted a climb after a disappointing qualifying. And, that climb would begin on lap one as the #123 saw himself straight into the points by dispatching Tom Chilton and Lewis Selby. A further two places would follow on lap two as passing Sam Osborne provided 14th and swapping with Chris for 13th gave Dan good standing as the race settled.
Our pair would be promoted to 12th and 13th as Árón Taylor-Smith fell down the order on lap five, while Chilton would barge his way past Chris at Stirlings on lap five. The contact saw Chris’ car damaged and out of real contention for Race One, as Chilton would later be awarded penalty points for the incident. Dan fared better fortunes as his strong drive continued, with lap six seeing him get ahead of Dan Rowbottom for 11th, while Chris could nudge himself past Ryan Bensley for 18th – where both would finish.
But, a post-race penalty for Morgan would see Dan’s starting position improve to 10th, as both Restart Racing cars started on the medium compound tyre. The first lap would see gains for both, as Chris climbed past Bensley and Dan dispatched Dexter Patterson. Chris would continue to push on the second tour as he got ahead of Lewis Gilbert, before surviving a lap six scare at Paddock Hill as two cars around him collided, though it would see him fall to 18th.
Ahead, Dan found himself in a mid-pack battle that was the highlight of Race 2 running. Looking to best Moffat, Dan would use his best and eventually fall back behind Patterson, before battling with Osborne. Unfortunately, both Dan and Chris would receive five-second penalties for track limits violations as the race reached its closing laps, seeing both cars finish out of the points in 17th and 19th.
Both drivers wanted to storm through the pack to deliver a positive result to end the season, and that they did. First lap chaos saw Dan and Chris capitalise to climb up to 12th and 15th respectively, as the stewards deployed the safety car.
Both Dan and Chris would lose out at the restart, as Gordon Shedden passed Chris and Dan fell two. But, he would regain both through a battling lap eight, as our pair also gained one more from a retirement a few laps later. Both cars looked to keep gaining until the end after a second safety car pause, but only Chris could pop himself up one more as another driver fell and our pair finished eighth and 12th.
However, post-race, victor Ricky Collard would be awarded a five-second penalty, seeing Dan bumped up to seventh.
Dan said:
“So, we’ve just finished the final race of the season here at Brands Hatch GP. Again, it’s been a rollercoaster of a weekend with a lot of potential.“We should have been starting 10th in that last race, but unfortunately got done for track limits in race two, which put us back to 17th. Really frustrating, because there was a lot of potential.
“But we had a really good race at the end and managed to get through to eighth, so I had fun in that one.
“It’s been a little bit of a season of what could have been, but thank you to everyone for your support. It’s obviously been really fun to be back, and a big thank you to Pete and Chris for the opportunity.”
Chris said:
“So that’s the final race of the year all over and done with at Brands Hatch. We moved forward a few places in the last race, starting 18th and finishing 12th.“We had the soft tyre on and the car felt quite good, to be honest. We had quite a lot of contact in the first few laps and lost probably a few too many places, so we had to catch them all back up again.
“It’s been a tough season and a tough weekend. There’s a lot to think about moving forward in terms of how we can improve things and get things right for next year.
“It’s been hard work this year, but I’ve enjoyed it. I always enjoy racing and I always enjoy being in the championship.
“Now it’s time to get a few weeks off, regroup and come back stronger again next year.”
While Sunday at Brands Hatch GP may not have been the flourishing finish to the 2026 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship campaign that Restart Racing hoped for, Race Three’s season-ender left things on a positive note as Dan managed to climb ten from his starting position and Chris seven.
Focus now turns to the off-season after a testing campaign, with the Restart Racing squad taking a well-deserved rest before returning to tin-top action in 2027.
Championship Standings
Following the completion of the Brands Hatch GP meeting:
Drivers’ Championship: Smiley 16th, Lloyd 20th
Teams’ Championship: 8th
Independent Drivers: Smiley 8th, Lloyd 11th
Independent Teams: 4th