The Un-Limited Motorsport garage was filled with celebrations when the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) visited Snetterton for Round 3 over the weekend. Not only did Daryl DeLeon deliver 2x point-scoring finishes, but he also managed to put the #18 Duckhams Cupra León in the Top 10 for Race 2.
Saturday was mostly spent on dialing in the setup and learning the track layout, which happens to be the longest circuit in the 2024 calendar at 4.779 km. Unfortunately for Daryl, he was still not on pace by Qualifying and ended the session with a 2:13.900 best in the wet. And with the BTCC’s new ‘Quick Six’ shootout, it meant that he couldn’t advance into the next stages and had to settle for P19 on the grid.
After getting less-than-ideal results in Qualifying, the team made adjustments to the blue-and-yellow liveried Cupra León on Saturday evening that transformed its performance overnight.
Running on the faster soft Goodyear tires, Daryl would get off to a clean start in Race 1. But it soon became apparent that he still didn’t quite have the speed to challenge the front runners. Contact with another driver also didn’t help and saw Daryl cross the finish line in 17th place.
His issues were later identified to be caused by a faulty differential and turbo boost, which Un-Limited Motorsport was able to resolve in time for Race 2. With rain clouds looming over the circuit, the team gambled on wet weather tires despite the dry track and sent Daryl on his way. It soon proved to be the right call as half the field darted into the pit lane when the heavens opened up. This greatly helped Daryl to move up to a top 10 position, which he held until the chequered flag dropped to earn the lone Filipino on the grid his best result in the BTCC to date.
Although the rain was still falling on the circuit, the team could already foresee that the track will eventually dry out in Race 3. So, they sent Daryl out on medium compound slicks where the 18-year-old skillfully found grip in the wet. But his race almost came to an abrupt end when he was pushed sideways on the opening lap. Luckily, he was able to escape with only minor damage to his front bumper and soldiered on. Daryl fought for position for the entirety of the 12-lap race in drying conditions and wrapped up a successful weekend at Snetterton in a point-scoring 12th.
With his pair of point-scoring finishes, Daryl DeLeon now has 16 points on the overall Drivers’ Standings. His results also propel him up to 3rd in the Independents Trophy leaderboard. Un-Limited Motorsport aims to maintain their strong momentum into Round 4 which takes place on 3rd and 4th of June at the ultra-high speed Thruxton Circuit.
Daryl DeLeon: “A really good weekend at Snetterton with 2 point-scoring finishes – my highest-ever finish in the BTCC with 10th in Race 2 followed by another great result with 12th in Race 3. Although there were a few tense moments with the changing conditions, I’m very happy with the car and it was much quicker overall. We’re taking the positives to the next round at Thruxton and see how we’ll get on in 2 week’s time”
Daryl DeLeon is supported by Un-Limited Edition and Train Maintenance Services (TMS).