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The overlooked warning shot to the BTCC grid

Despite a strong showing in qualifying, circumstances conspired against WSR at the British Touring Car Championship season opener at Brands Hatch. But, although its drivers aren't that high in the points, the signs suggest it will still have a strong year

If Mercedes had come away from the 2019 Australian Grand Prix with one driver eighth in the standings and its reigning champion only 13th, no one would be saying it's mission accomplished. It's not the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln and this isn't 2003.

But after the first round of the British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch, despite Andrew Jordan being only three points inside the top 10 and 2018 champion Colin Turkington a full 30 off leader Josh Cook, all signs point towards WSR going the distance in its fight to retain the teams' and manufacturers' crowns.

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Author Matt Kew

Matt Kew is Autosport’s F1 Editor, a role he has held since March 2022 following stints covering Formula E, Extreme E and the British Touring Car Championship.

Matt joined Autosport in 2018 to work predominantly on the magazine, but his relentless quoting of Alan Partridge meant office colleagues soon thought he would be better-suited to increased field work.

Needless to say, Matt had the last laugh when he won the Motorsport UK Young Journalist of the Year Award in 2019.

His interest in motorsport was sparked by regular trips to watch ASCAR crash around Rockingham’s banked oval.

Matt read politics and philosophy at the University of Sheffield - receiving first-class honours for his dissertation assessing the lack of female participation in top-tier motor racing.

He covered a wide variety of national race and rally meetings for Autosport as a freelancer before joining full-time. His best efforts to argue the merits of historic racing are undone by a questionable taste in music and James Bond actors.