The 2025 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship rolled into the wonderful 1.27-mile Knockhill circuit just north of Edinburgh, as the second-half of the season got underway with Rounds 19, 20, and 21.
The beginning of the weekend saw Napa Racing UK/Alliance Racing driver Sam Osborne sitting in seventeenth place of the BTCC Drivers’ Championship table with 60 points. Meanwhile, the race for the Jack Sears Trophy sees Sam occupying third spot with 239 points.
Saturday’s Qualifying Session saw Sam put in a superb lap to ensure that he started the first race of the weekend in eleventh place.
RACE 1 (27 Laps)
The opening race of the weekend saw Sam starting with the full quota of twelve laps worth of boost for this circuit. His number 77 Ford Focus ST was also booted up with the soft tyre.
He got a good launch off the line, but eventually lost out to Adam Morgan’s Team Vertu Hyundia i30N to start the second lap in 12th.
The next few laps saw him battling hard with Morgan and Chris Smiley (Restart Racing Hyundia i30N), while defending from Dan Lloyd (Restart Racing Hyundia i30N) and teammate Daniel Rowbottom.
Both Sam and Rowbottom got by Smiley on lap eight, before the number 77 Ford Focus ST got a good run on the Hyundia i30N of Morgan at the final corner of the tenth lap to get past at the start of the tenth lap.
He was well in the hunt for eighth place, as he chased Aron Taylor-Smith’s Toyota Gazoo Racing UK with IAA Toyota Corolla GR Sport and teammate Ash Sutton.
Sam got q good run out of the hairpin to get alongside Taylor-Smith on lap 13, but the Toyota driver pinched him towards the grass, leaving him no option but to yield and remain in tenth place as teammate Sutton edged clear of the duo.
He got his Ford Focus ST up the side of the Toyota Corolla GR Sport as they raced through the chicane, which left Sam vulnerable to an attack from Morgan’s Team Vertu Hyundia i30N, which nicked the position off of the Ford driver.
By lap 15, the number 77 was well in the hunt for a top ten finish, as Sam continued to battle hard with Adam Morgan. Meanwhile, ninth-placed Aron Taylor-Smith was the proverbial cork in the bottle, as he held up ten racers behind him.
Racing was halted on lap 21 when leader Jake Hill’s Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport BMW 330E M Sport accidentally clipped the Cupra Leon (Motor Parts Direct with Power Maxed Racing) into a spin while trying to lap him. Halstead stalled in a precarious position, prompting the intervention of the safety car.
Racing got back under way by lap 25 (of now 27), leaving a three-lap shootout to the chequered flag. Sam got a great exit out of the hairpin on the final lap to pip Adam Morgan to the line to finish 10th and score six championship points.
RACE 2 (24 Laps)
Race Two saw Sam start in tenth place with the soft tyres on, plus the full quota of twelve laps worth of boost available.
The number 77 Ford Focus ST got off the line well, but got boxed in behind Aron Taylor-Smith’s Toyota Gazoo Racing UK with IAA Toyota Corolla GR Sport, which enabled Adam Morgan to squeeze by in his Team Vertu Hyundia i30N and relegate Sam down a spot.
Sam then lost out to the Restart Racing Hyundia i30N of Chris Smiley and teammate Daniel Rowbottom on the second lap, before overcooking it and running wide, and across the gravel at Clark’s to drop down to 17th.
He was set to battle with Tom Chilton (Team Vertu Hyundia i30N), Dexter Patterson (ROKiT Racing with Un-Limited Motorsport Cupra Leon), and the Toyota Gazoo Racing UK with IAA Toyota Corolla GR Sport duo of Gordon Shedden and James Dorlin, when he had to dive into the pits to get the grass cleared out from the front of his Ford Focus ST following his earlier excursion.
He returned to the race to run to the finish, which saw him take the chequered flag in 22nd and last place.
RACE 3 (24 Laps)
The final race of the weekend was the reverse-grid race, which sadly didn’t effect Sam. He took the start in his Ford Focus ST in 22nd place, with the medium tyre on and the full quota of twelve laps of boost available to use.
He got by the Motor Parts Direct with Power Maxed Racing Cupra Leon of Nick Halstead on the second lap, before inheriting another spot when Max Buxton (Toyota Gazoo Racing UK with IAA Toyota Corolla GR Sport) dropped down the field with a problem.
Sam then dispatched Nic Hamilton’s Powder Monkey Brewing Co with Esidock Cupra Leon on the third lap, before actually starting to make use of his boost on lap six.
By lap eight, Sam had overtaken James Dorlin’s Toyota Corolla GR Sport and set about reeling in the Motor Parts Direct with Power Maxed Racing Cupra Leon of Mikey Doble.
Five laps later saw the number 77 Ford Focus ST promoted to 17th, after Aron Taylor-Smith’s Toyota Gazoo Racing UK with IAA Toyota Corolla GR Sport had to pull into the pits.
Sam continued chasing after Doble and Dexter Patterson’s ROKiT Racing with Un-Limited Motorsport Cupra Leon, but just didn’t have the speed left in his medium tyres in comparison to those on the soft compound. He inherited 16th place when Daryl DeLeon (WSR BMW 330E M Sport) retired on the last lap to finish one place outside the points paying positions.
It was a difficult weekend for Sam and the Napa Racing UK/Alliance Racing number 77 Ford Focus ST at Knockhill. At the end of the racing, he remains in seventeenth place in the Drivers’ Championship table with 66 points. He also remains in third place of the Jack Sears Trophy table with 277 points.
