What better way to end a 10-round journey in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) than delivering a season-best result at the finale. Daryl DeLeon piloted his #18 Duckhams Racing with Bartercard Cupra León for one final weekend in 2024 to conclude the year with 7th place at Brands Hatch.
Things, however, got off to a slow start with gearbox issues severely limiting their track time on Friday. Spending most of Free Practice 1 in the garage, the Filipino-British driver was only able to complete 7 laps and wound up P18 on the timesheets. Unlimited Motorsport eventually sorted out the problem in time for Free Practice 2 where Daryl was able to maximize the session and fine tune the car’s setup.
Their efforts clearly paid off during Qualifying where the 19-year-old was able to get through Q2. His best time of 1:29.780 was only 0.447 secs off pole and earned him P8 on the grid – his best qualifying result to-date.
Brimming with confidence after a stellar Qualifying, Daryl got off to a clean start in Race 1 and was lucky to avoid the first corner pileup. He then moved up a spot after the Safety Car restart, keeping up with the front pack on his soft Goodyear tires while staying out of trouble. At the end of 18 laps, he would be rewarded with 7th place at the finish line.
Now starting from P7 on the grid, Daryl managed to hold position in the opening stages of Race 2. But would later struggle for grip on medium tires and came under attack. Losing out to cars on softs, he dropped back several places to take the chequered flag in 13th still with points in the bag.
Rain soon fell on the final race of 2024 with Daryl lining up in P13. It was a tricky 15 laps navigating around a slippery 3.916 km circuit as all the cars scrambled for grip. Although he was able to keep the #18 Cupra León on the road, Daryl was struggled with understeer and wrapped up the season in an anti-climactic 18th.
His results from Brands Hatch would allow Daryl to conclude his first full BTCC season 18th in the Drivers’ Championship and 3rd in the Jack Sears Trophy.
Daryl DeLeon: “Quite happy in terms of what we’ve achieved this season. There’s always going to be moments where hope to have done more, but the year’s gone very well and we’ve developed and progressed massively as a team. Happy to finish the season with a strong set of results at the last round and ended up 3rd in the Jack Shears Trophy. All eyes on 2025 now. We’ll have to wait and see what comes, but looking to be back on the grid for next year.”
For news and updates, Like the Daryl DeLeon Racing page on Facebook, follow @daryldeleon on Instagram, or visit daryldeleonracing.com.
[Photos courtesy of BTCC and Un-Limited Motorsport]