The West Surrey Racing team (WSR) led by Team Principal Dick Bennetts has been the most successful team in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) over the last several years. The team had some success in the 2025 season but it was a challenging year.
WSR had four BMW 330i M Sport entries this season, including one for defending champion Jake Hill (#1). Hill was joined by newcomers Daryn DeLeon (#2), Charles Rainford (#99) and Aiden Moffat (#16). The team had a promising start to the season with Hill finishing fourth in two out of three races at the Donington Park opener. Then Hill, DeLeon and Rainford all earned wins in the three races at Brands Hatch, the second race weekend of the season.
The team hit a slump after the success at Brands Hatch. The ten race stretch though Snetterton, Thruxton, Oulton Park and Croft saw only two fifth place finishes, both by Jake Hill. They bounced back at Knockhill, with Hill getting two wins and Rainford scoring a second-place finish.
The team scored two more podium finishes in the penultimate race weekend at Silverstone and closed out the season with a third-place for Hill in the final race at Brands Hatch. Overall, the team ended up with twelve podiums, including five wins. Three of those were from Hill, who is leaving BTCC but is yet to announce what series he’s taking on next. In four seasons driving a BMW, Hill had 47 podiums, 20 race wins and won a driver’s championship.
Daryl DeLeon, the 2025 Jack Sears Trophy winner.
The highlight of the season for WSR was Daryl DeLeon (above) winning the Jack Sears Trophy and teammate Charles Rainford finishing second. It’s named for Jack Sears, the driver who won the first British Saloon Car Championship in 1958, and is awarded to the highest finishing driver in the championship who had never scored a podium before the season began. Once a driver wins the trophy, regardless if they do so by finishing on the podium in that season or not, they are ineligible to win it again. It’s a small championship within a championship, an underdog trophy.
Charles Rainford finished second in the Jack Sears Trophy.
“Finishing the season with a one-two-finish in the Jack Sears Trophy is an excellent result for both Daryl and Charles,” said Team Principal Dick Bennetts. “Both have made such a positive impact on the team this year that it’s a shame they can’t both be the champion. The work of both their car crews was excellent and embodied the sort of team spirit we have at WSR. A podium finish was a fitting end to Jake’s BTCC career and Aiden performed really well after his misfortune in Race One.”
The 2026 BTCC season opens at Donington Park on April 25th-27th.
—David Haueter
[Photos courtesy BTCC, WSR]
