The 2026 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship arrived in sunny Norfolk, as the third weekend of the season took place at Snetterton.
At 2.97-miles, the Snetterton 300 includes the longest lap of the season. And the weekend saw extremely hot temperatures for Rounds seven, eight, and nine of the campaign.
Saturday’s Qualifying Session saw Sam Osborn once again placed in Group One of the two groups. And he registered a best time of 1:56.101, which was good enough for seventh place. That would eventually translate to 13th place on the grid for the Race To Pole.
RACE TO POLE (8 Laps)
The Race To Pole saw all drivers on the soft tyre compound for this eight-lap dash, and Sam had the full quota of 20 seconds per lap of boost available to him.
He got away well from the seventh row as the lights went out to jump up into twelfth, whereby he set about chasing after Aiden Moffat (LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing Audi A3 Saloon) and James Dorlin (Restart Racing Hyundia i30N).
By the fourth lap, the number 77 Ford Focus Titanium was chasing Dorlin hard while defending well from the Steel Seal with Power Maxed Racing Audi A3 Saloon of Dexter Patterson. Sam was then promoted up to 11th when teammate Ash Sutton brought his Napa Racing UK Ford Focus Titanium into the pits with a problem.
With Dorlin now squabbling with the Audi of Moffat, Sam was watching the race ahead unfold while chasing after a potential ninth place on the penultimate lap. And, as the trio closed in on the Mercedes A35 Saloon of Adam Morgan, Aiden Moffat pulled off the circuit which promoted Sam into the top ten at the chequered flag.
RACE 1 (12 Laps)
Sunday saw the drivers having to deal with extremely high temperatures throughout, especially inside their cars. Yet despite that, the day’s racing would witness the unusual event of no Safety Car interruptions whatsoever! That meant that all three races ran smoothly and to the official twelve laps per race.
Sam started the first race of the day in tenth place, alongside the Restart Racing Hyundia i30N of James Dorlin. The number 77 Ford Focus Titanium was booted with the quicker soft tyre compound, and Sam had the full quota of ten laps worth of boost at his disposal.
Sam got away well as the day’s racing began, but he did lose out to Dorlin at the beginning of the second lap to fall down into eleventh. By the third lap though, he was right on the bumper of the Restart Racing Hyundia i30N in a four-car train which included the Mercedes A35 Saloon of Adam Morgan and the Team Vertu Hyundia i30N of Ricky Collard. However, teammate Ash Sutton was on a charge from the back of the grid and was getting closer to the back of Sam’s Napa Racing UK Ford Focus Titanium.
The next lap saw Sam get a good run on Morgan through Riches, before getting by the Mercedes A35 Saloon at the Wilson hairpin to reach the top ten. He then closed up on Dorlin quickly, as the duo chased the Team Vertu Hyundia i30Ns of Collard and Tom Chilton.
Overtaking appeared to be difficult during this race, as Sam had a watching brief of the squabbling Dorlin and Collard on lap nine. Sam then closed back up to the former to have a terrific battle throughout the remaining laps. The number 77 Ford Focus Titanium just didn’t have that needed pace to get by the Hyundia i30N though, and Sam took the chequered flag in a solid tenth place.
However, a mechanical issue which generated overboost during the final three corners of the race meant that Sam was eventually disqualified. That meant that he would start the second race at the back of the grid.
RACE 2 (12 Laps)
With the number 77 Ford starting from the very back of the grid (21st), Sam and his Napa Racing UK team decided to use the less-favoured medium tyre compound. Sam also had the full quota of ten laps worth of boost available too.
He got away well as the lights went out to pass both Max Buxton (Speedworks Corolla Racing Toyota Corolla GR Sport) and Nic Hamilton (Team Vertu Hyundia i30N) before the start of the second lap.
Nineteenth became eighteenth when James Dorlin’s Restart Racing Hyundia i30N dropped down the field, as Sam was having a good battle with the LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing Audi A3 Saloon of Aiden Moffat on the third lap.
However by the fifth tour, Sam lost out to Hamilton’s Team Vertu Hyundia i30N to drop back into 19th place. He continued to fight with Hamilton but, by lap eight, the two medium tyred cars began to lose ground on the soft runners ahead of them.
Sam was promoted to 18th when the Team Vertu Hyundia i30N of Tom Ingram pulled off in retirement on the penultimate lap. And Sam brought the number 77 Ford Focus Titanium home in 17th place at the chequered flag, after the Audi A3 Saloon of Dexter Patterson was hit with a penalty.
RACE 3 (12 Laps)
The final race of the weekend saw Sam start in seventeenth place. However, the Napa Racing UK Ford Focus Titanium was now fitted with the soft tyres and had the full quota of ten laps worth of boost available.
He got a good launch off the line to overtake both Nic Hamilton (Team Vertu Hyundia i30N) and teammate Lewis Selby (Napa Racing UK Ford Focus Titanium) before the end of the first lap, but he did get passed by the charging Tom Ingram (Team Vertu Hyundia i30N) before the start of lap two.
By lap three, Sam was into the points (15th) and chasing the LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing Audi A3 Saloon of Aiden Moffat, after the Speedworks Corolla Racing Toyota Corolla GR Sport of Josh Cook had dropped down a few places.
Like the previous races, Sam had a good dice with Aiden Moffat, with the duo trading positions throughout laps five to eight. The recovering Josh Cook joined the battle by that point, as the trio closed in on the Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport Toyota Corolla GR Sport of Aron Taylor-Smith.
Both Sam and Moffat got by the struggling Team Vertu Hyundia i30N of Ricky Collard on the penultimate lap, and Sam edged his Napa Racing UK Ford Focus Titanium by the Audi A3 Saloon of Moffat on the last lap to take the chequered flag in thirteenth place.
And, so a difficult weekend for Sam and his number 77 Ford Focus Titanium came to an end. After nine rounds, Sam occupies eighteenth in the Drivers Championship table with 30 points. Meanwhile, he sits in third of the Jack Sears Trophy table with 117 points.
Next up on the calendar sees the BTCC travel to Cheshire, where the series tackles the lovely Oulton Park circuit for Rounds 10, 11, and 12.
By Chris Palmer
