Mikey Doble adds to BTCC silverware collection at Brands Hatch
Mikey Doble continued his fine start to the 2024 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch this past weekend (11-12 May) as he tallied wins in both the Independents’ Class and Jack Sears Trophy for a second successive meeting.
In scorching temperatures, the Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing driver scored points in all three races around the Indy circuit and in-turn added to his ever-growing silverware collection as he took two more coveted trophies home.
The Vauxhall Astra racer arrived at the world-famous Kent circuit buoyed by the success he had achieved at Donington Park last month and he quickly got to work in fine-tuning his front-wheel-drive machine across Saturday’s two practice sessions.
Having shown glimpses of pace in practice, Doble delivered a credible performance during what was an ultra-competitive qualifying later that day, where he missed out on progressing into Q2 by just 0.075s.
Starting the first of Sunday’s three races in 13th, the 25-year-old - who opted to run the medium tyre - enjoyed a relatively trouble-free drive as he maintained his position come the chequered flag.
Bolting the soft tyre on for race two, Doble demonstrated his overtaking prowess in a frenetic contest which saw him battle his way up to ninth place and crucially beat his team-mate Aron Taylor-Smith to victory in the Independents’ Class.
On a high from claiming his second Independent win of the season, Doble had plenty more to cheer about when the draw for the reverse grid finale was made, which placed him third on the grid.
Holding his own towards the sharp end of the grid, Doble ran as high as fourth at one stage before some typical door-to-door racing unfortunately saw him tumble down the order and ultimately cross the line in 15th.
Despite the lacklustre conclusion to his race day, Doble still had reason to celebrate as his results across the three races meant that he clinched outright honours in the Jack Sears Trophy for a second weekend in-a-row.
That success has meant that the former national champion has extended his lead in the Jack Sears Trophy and remains in second place in the Independent Drivers’ Championship.
Mikey Doble, Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing: “Overall it has been another positive weekend for myself and I’m happy to be heading home with points in all three races, as well as a couple more trophies.
“Going into the weekend I was quietly confident that we would have package that would be strong and that seemed to be the case. It was frustrating to miss out on Q2 in qualifying by such a small margin but we really made up for it on race day.
“Race one was pretty uneventful but the car really came alive on the soft tyre in race two and that allowed me to really push on, make some moves and ultimately claim another Independents’ victory.
“To be starting on the second row in race three was great however that combination of lacking a little bit of tyre compared to everyone else and the nature of touring cars meant we dropped down the pack as the race went on.
“It’s great we’ve been able to consolidate our position in both the Independents’ and Jack Sears Trophy and we’ll now head to Snetterton in a couple weeks’ time optimistic that we can go even better than we have here.”
The Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship continues in under two weeks’ time on the 25/26 May with Rounds 7, 8 & 9 taking place on Snetterton’s 300 circuit.










