The 2025 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship arrived in Northamptonshire for Rounds 25, 26, and 27 of the series.
The penultimate venue for this weekend was the wonderful Silverstone National Circuit in Towcester. At just 1.64 miles in length, the National variation of the home of the British GP is one of the shortest of the season.
And it’s a circuit where Sam Osborne drives well at. Last season saw him drive to three top ten finishes, but nothing would prepare him for what this weekend had in store for him…!
Sam arrived at Silverstone sitting in eighteenth in the BTCC Drivers’ Championship table, with 71 points. Meanwhile, in the race for the Jack Sears Trophy, Sam occupied third place with 324 points.
Saturday’s qualifying session took place on a wet track due to inconsistent wet weather. All four Napa Racing UK/Alliance Racing Ford Focus STs struggled, with Sam qualifying in twentieth position on the grid.
RACE 1 (25 Laps)
As usual, Sam began the weekend’s racing with the full quota of boost available which was twelve laps for this short, six-cornered circuit. He also started on the medium compound tyres.
As the lights went green, Sam got a good launch to get the better of Nic Hamilton (Powder Monkey Brewing Co with Esidock Cupra Leon) and Max Buxton (Toyota Gazoo Racing UK with IAA Toyota Corolla GR Sport). However, teammate Dan Cammish overtook Sam to see the number 77 Ford Focus ST start lap two in nineteenth.
Sam got by the ROKIT Racing With Un-Limited Motorsport Cupra Leon of Dexter Patterson on the third tour, before Patterson returned the favour two laps later. Yet Sam guided his Ford Focus ST back by the Cupra Leon on the sixth lap and settled into chasing after the Restart Racing Hyundia i30N of Chris Smiley.
A series of quick laps saw Sam close the gap to the Hyundia to less than 0.2 of a second by lap sixteen, down from over two seconds. And, he was promoted to seventeenth when Mikey Doble had to pit the number 88 Motor Parts Direct with Power Maxed Racing Cupra Leon.
Sam then guided his Ford Focus ST up three positions by lap eighteen, as he got past Chris Smiley and the LQK Euro Car Parts with WSR BMW 330E M Sport of Charles Rainford, before Tom Chilton’s Team Vertu Hyundia i30N dropped out with a problem.
Lap nineteen saw the Safety Car deployed after Hamilton’s Cupra Leon caught fire. Thankfully, Hamilton was out and alright, but the fire meant that the race finished behind the Safety Car despite the required three additional laps being added.
Sam finished fourteenth on the road, but was hit with a track limits penalty which dropped him to 19th and out of the points-paying positions.
“I got a track limits warning earlier in the race” said Sam, “…and I tried to drive to compensate for it. But I then ended up getting a ten-second penalty unfortunately.”
RACE 2 (25 Laps)
The second race of the afternoon saw Sam start from nineteenth and booted with the medium tyre once again. As usual, he had the full quota of twelve laps of boost at his disposal.
He was immediately promoted to eighteenth following teammate Dan Cammish having to pull into the pits with an issue on one of the formation laps.
The number 77 Ford Focus ST made a blistering start to jump three cars on the opening lap. However, he then lost out to the Team Vertu Hyundia i30N of Tom Chilton to finish the second lap in 16th.
By the fifth lap, Sam had despatched both Daryl DeLeon (WSR BMW 330E M Sport) and Josh Cook (Toyota Gazoo Racing UK with IAA Toyota Corolla GR Sport), before Cook returned the favour two laps later, followed by DeLeon on lap nine.
Tom Chilton beached his Team Vertu Hyundia i30N after contact, which promoted Sam up into the points as the Safety Car entered the circuit.
As racing resumed on lap fourteen (of now 25), Mikey Doble sneeked by the number 77 Ford, before Adam Morgan was left with nothing to see after his Team Vertu Hyundia i30N’s bonnet became unhinged and rested on his windscreen!
By passing both Doble and Senna Proctor (Team Vertu Hyundia i30N) on lap eighteen, Sam entered a good old fashioned ding-dong with the duo plus Josh Cook (Toyota Corolla GR Sport), Chris Smiley (Restart Racing Hyundia i30N), Daryl DeLeon (WSR BMW 330E M Sport), Dexter Patterson (ROKiT Racing with Un-Limited Motorsport Cupra Leon), and the Toyota Gazoo Racing UK with IAA Toyota Corolla GR Sport of Max Buxton.
It all nearly ended in tears on lap twenty, when a tap by Doble sent the number 77 Ford Focus ST into a potential tank-slapper, but Sam was able to control the slide with excellent control. He went on to race well with Doble and Smiley, before being elevated to eleventh when teammate Dan Rowbottom pulled off into the pits to retire at the end of lap 23.
Sam, meanwhile, drove on to take the chequered flag in twelfth place to score four more championship points.
“I was on it for the race to climb from nineteenth to twelfth. We had a bit of a moment and a big drift, where we lost two places. We tried to come back, but the fronts were a bit cooked by then. It wasn’t a bad race and we’re looking forward to race three.”
After the interview, Sam would soon discover that his fortunes would take a dramatic and deserved turn for the better…
RACE 3 (22 Laps)
The legendary John Watson pulled out ball number twelve for the reverse grid final race of the weekend, which meant that Sam started on Pole Position alongside Mikey Doble’s Cupra Leon (Motor Parts Direct with Power Maxed Racing).
The number 77 Ford Focus ST was sitting on four compounds of the soft tyre, and had twelve laps worth of boost available.
Speaking to ITV’s Louise Goodman before the race he said, “It’s good to be up here on pole to be honest. It makes a change. We’re looking good and I’m looking forward to the race.”
Sam got a good launch off the line to edge out a gap of 1.4 seconds to the chasing pack, which started with the fast-starting Toyota Corolla GR Sport of Josh Cook by the third lap.
The gap between the number 77 Ford Focus ST and number 66 Toyota Corolla GR Sport of Cook fluctuated throughout the race, but Sam controlled his pace throughout, as well as his usage of the boost.
The defence of his lead was superbly executed, as he put in a stunning drive from the lights to the chequered flag. Eventually finishing 1.6 seconds clear of Josh Cook, Sam took the victory with teammate Ash Sutton completing the podium.
After huge celebrations with the Napa Racing UK/Alliance Racing crew, teammates, and other drivers, Sam eventually caught a breath to speak with ITV’s Louise Goodman…
“I got away well and tried to manage the gap for the rest of the race. Josh really kept us honest, but I kept it cool and calm, then edged out the gap again by using the boost until the end. I can’t thank the team enough, it’s mega!”
Speaking about his younger brother and Vertu Motors Mini Challenge UK driver Jamie, who was unwell this weekend, Sam said, “This one’s for you baby bro!”
The weekend’s racing saw Sam jump up to seventeenth in the BTCC Drivers’ Championship table with 96 points, while remaining in third place in the Jack Sears Trophy table with 369 points.
More importantly though, he has now written himself into the BTCC history books with a stunning drive to win his first ever touring car race. Simply fantastic!
