The 2026 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship arrived in Kent for Rounds four, five, and six at the beautiful 1.21-mile Brands Hatch Indy circuit.
Saturday’s Qualifying Group Session saw Sam Osborne placed in Group One, where he had fifteen seconds worth of boost to exploit on every lap throughout the sessions. And he saved his best lap until last, where he clocked a time of 47.586 seconds. That time was good enough for seventh in his group, and thirteenth and alongside the Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport Toyota Corolla GR Sport of Gordon Shedden for the Race To Pole.
RACE TO POLE (18 Laps)
The Race To Pole saw the number 77 Ford Focus Titanium on the soft tyre compound. As the lights went out, Sam got a good launch off the grid to find himself up two places to 11th by the start of the second lap.
However, Aron Taylor-Smith (Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport Toyota Corolla GR Sport) got by Sam at Graham Hill Bend on the second lap, before Sam was promoted into the top ten when Charles Rainford (WSR BMW 330i M Sport) and Tom Chilton (Team Vertu Hyundia i30N) both went off on the run along the Cooper Straight.
By the fifth lap, Sam was the meat in a Laser Tools sandwich, as he battled superbly with Taylor-Smith while defending the advances of Gordon Shedden and teammate Lewis Selby (Napa Racing UK Ford Focus Titanium). However, Shedden managed to get by before Clearways on the seventh lap, which left Sam vulnerable to an attack from the Speedworks Corolla Racing Toyota Corolla GR Sport of Josh Cook, who got by at Paddock Hill Bend on the next lap.
Sam was then glued to the rear bumper of Cook by the twelfth lap, as he and Cook chased the Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport Toyota Corolla GR Sports of Taylor-Smith and Shedden for ninth place.
Eventually, Cook locked up and went off at Druids with a puncture on the penultimate lap to promote Sam to eleventh. And that’s where the number 77 Ford Focus Titanium finished, as Sam fended off the attention of James Dorlin (Restart Racing Hyundia i30N) at the chequered flag.
RACE 1 (27 Laps)
Sunday would see inconsistent weather conditions play a vital role in Sam’s racing throughout the day’s three races, which would see the number 77 Ford Focus Titanium finish with mixed results.
There was a light drizzle in the Kent air for the opening race of the day, which would make the Brands Hatch circuit greasy. Sam lined up on the inside of the sixth row (11th), where he had 14 laps of boost available to him and was booted with the soft tyre compound.
He got off the line well to launch himself inside the top ten by the start of the second lap, which became 8th when Adam Morgan (Plato Racing Mercedes A35 Saloon) skidded off into the gravel at the top of Paddock Hill Bend. The Safety Car was subsequently called into action, as the stricken Mercedes was retrieved.
The (now) 27-lap race resumed on the ninth lap, and Sam got by the WSR BMW 330i M Sport of Daryl De Leon on the run along the Cooper Straight. However, the number 77 Ford got sideways at Clearways, which allowed De Leon to get back through.
The charging Chilton (Team Vertu Hyundia i30N) relegated Sam to eighth on lap eleven, before De Leon fell down the order to promote the Ford Focus Titanium back into seventh. Four laps later saw Sam trying to close the gap to the LQK Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing Audi A3 Saloon of Mikey Doble, while having to defend the advances of Charles Rainford’s WSR BMW 330i M Sport.
And as the circuit dried, he made the move on Doble while exiting the Clark Curve on lap 23, then edged clear to complete the move into sixth place at Paddock Hill Bend. His mega drive was completed, as he took the chequered flag in a brilliant sixth place to secure ten championship points.
RACE 2 (22 Laps)
The result meant that Sam would start the second race of the day on the third row. He was booted with the soft tyre compound once again but, because of his sixth place in the previous round, Sam would only have ten laps of boost at his disposal for this race. As it turned out though, that would be the least of his problems…
As the lights went out, the number 77 Ford Focus Titanium got away well to get by the Team Vertu Hyundia i30N of Tom Chilton, only to then lose out to the WSR BMW 330i M Sport of Charles Rainford, who braved it on the outside of the Druids hairpin to get by Sam at Graham Hill Bend.
Teammate Lewis Selby crashed out, which introduced the Safety Car with Sam in a healthy top six place. And when racing resumed on lap seven (of now a 27-lap race), Sam fended off the attack of Mikey Doble (LQK Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing Audi A3 Saloon) to remain in sixth.
However the weather conditions worsened as the race progressed, and by lap fourteen a mass free-for-all for the slick-shod field meant that Sam unluckily dropped down to tenth. That soon became eleventh when Dexter Patterson (Steel Seal with Power Maxed Racing Audi A3 Saloon) got by, before Sam slid off at Paddock Hill Bend on the next lap (16) to enable James Dorlin (Restart Racing Hyundia i30N) to get by.
The number 77 Ford Focus Titanium was able to soldier on, albeit in 12th place, before Daryl De Leon (WSR BMW 330i M Sport) edged past on the run through the McLaren and Clearways complex on the eighteenth lap.
A lap later saw Tom Chilton get his Team Vertu Hyundia i30N sideways on the run up Hailwoods Hill to promote Sam back into 12th, but his race was ended on the 22nd lap after Dan Rowbottom took him out of the race at Druids while running under yellow flag conditions!
The cause of the yellow flag was the stricken WSR BMW 330i M Sport of Charles Rainford at that Druids hairpin, which Sam slid to a halt beside as the Race Director red-flagged the race for safety reasons.
RACE 3 (24 Laps)
The final race of the weekend subsequently saw Sam placed in 17th position of the starting grid. He was now on the medium tyre compound, but did have the full quota of fourteen laps of boost available.
Like his two previous races, he got off the line well but spun on the second lap to drop down a place. He set about recovering though, and was quickly fighting the other Napa Racing UK Ford Focus Titanium of Lewis Selby and the Speedworks Corolla Racing Toyota Corolla GR Sport of Max Buxton by lap four.
As the trio chased after the Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport Toyota Corolla GR Sport of Gordon Shedden, they were soon promoted a spot each where the Team Vertu Hyundia i30N of Ricky Collard pulled off with a problem.
Lewis Selby and Chris Smiley (Restart Racing Hyundia i30N) came together while exiting Druids on the fifth lap to push Sam up another two spots, and he then began pulling away from Buxton three laps later.
After a solid run of laps, the number 77 Ford Focus Titanium got by Rowbottom in fourteenth. Which is where Sam would remain to take the chequered flag and score another two championship points.
By the end of the day’s hectic racing in variable weather conditions, Sam sits in 17th position in the Drivers’ Championship with 24 points. Meanwhile in the Jack Sears Trophy, he occupies third with a respectable haulage of 67 points.
By Chris Palmer
