The team joined the BTCC in 2019, using MG6 GT cars previously operated by Triple Eight and AmD Tuning. The cars were driven by Rob Smith and Sam Osborne. During the first year, the team secured two points-scoring finishes. In 2020, the team replaced the ageing MG with brand new
Hyundai i30 Fastback N Performance cars that it had developed in house during the winter.
Senna Proctor and
Chris Smiley would share driving duties and both secured podium finishes, despite the COVID-19 pandemic restricting the amount of testing that was possible with the new car. For
2021, EXCELR8 joined forces with Trade Price Cars to enter four Hyundais under the name Excelr8 with TradePriceCars.com, retaining the services of
Chris Smiley, and taking on
Tom Ingram,
Jack Butel, and
Rick Parfitt Jr.
Nick Halstead replaced
Rick Parfitt Jr. for the Croft round of 2021 after Parfitt suffered a back injury. Halstead placed 26th, 25th and 21st in the 3 races at Croft.
Jack Butel suffered a concussion from a crash in Race 3 at the Donington event which saw him sit out of the season finale at Brands Hatch,
Andy Wilmot replaced Butel after last racing in the BTCC in
2015.
Tom Ingram and
Jack Butel were retained for the
2022 season, with
Tom Chilton and
Daniel Lloyd joining from
Ciceley Motorsport and
Power Maxed Racing respectively. Ingram won race 1 at
Donington Park to take an early lead in the championship. Ingram won races 1 and 2 at
Oulton Park whilst
Daniel Lloyd won races 1 and 2 at Croft.
James Gornall replaced Butel for the aformentioned
Croft round due to personal reasons. The
Mini Challenge UK driver scored 2 points in race 1 with a P14, he followed with a DNF and a P17. Ingram scored a hat-trick of 3rd places at
Snetterton whilst Chilton retired from race 1 and didn't start races 2 and 3.
Jack Butel finally scored his first points of 2022 with a P15 finish in race 3 at Round 8. Ingram would win race 3 at Silverstone and races 1 and 2 at
Brands Hatch, winning 3 races in a row before securing his first
BTCC title. The team managed to secure a P2 in the Teams' standings, beating their previous best of P5 in
2021.
Ronan Pearson joined the team and
Nick Halstead returned for 2023 to partner
Tom Chilton and reigning champion
Tom Ingram. The Excelr8 team scored a podium in every race of Round 1 at
Donington Park, with Ingram scoring a P3 in race 1 and a P2 in race 3, whilst
Tom Chilton took his first win in the
Hyundai and
Nick Halstead took a career-best P7 finish in the tricky conditions of race 2.
Ronan Pearson originally scored a P3 finish in the chaotic Donington race but was later disqualified after failing the ride height check. Ingram picked up more podiums in
Brands Hatch before he took his first win of 2023 in race 3 at
Snetterton. A dip in performance for the team through
Thruxton,
Oulton Park and
Croft saw Pearson score 1 point and Ingram only score 5 podium finishes in the intense title fight with 3 time champion
Ashley Sutton.
Tom Ingram would finally return to the top step in Race 2 at the
Donington GP round, but he only gained 3 points on Sutton with the
NAPA driver finishing in P2. Ingram scored three 2nd places in a row at rounds 27, 28 and 29 but would be too late as Sutton took the title away from Ingram. Once again, Excelr8 would find themselves P2 in the Teams' standings behind a dominant
NAPA Racing UK. For
2024, no driver or car changes were made. Only a slight tweak to the team name was made going under the
Team Bristol Street Motors moniker. Ingram won the first 2 races at Donington, following with a P4 in the reverse grid race.
Ronan Pearson claimed his first BTCC win in the reverse grid race at
Brands Hatch ahead of teammate
Tom Chilton. Ingram secured 2 P3 finishes at Thruxton after not scoring a podium since Brands Hatch race 2. A win at
Oulton Park would bring him back into the title fight with
Ashley Sutton and
Jake Hill. Tom Chilton was the only Excelr8 driver to win at
Croft. A winless weekend at Croft for the championship favourite
Tom Ingram would see Hill pull away in the title bid. 2, soon to be 3, time
Mini Challenge UK champion Dan Zelos debuted in the place of
Ronan Pearson after he and the team parted ways. A relatively quiet
Donington Park GP round saw an eventful wet
Silverstone weekend where Ingram won races 1 and 3 whilst title rival
Colin Turkington retired from race 3 after beaching it at
Maggotts. Dan Zelos took his maiden JST win in race 3 after a great drive through the field.
Tom Ingram narrowly missed out on a 2nd Drivers' championship after a close fight with the
WSR driver of
Jake Hill. For the 3rd consecutive season, Excelr8 finished behind
NAPA Racing UK in the Teams' championship. The team only retained
Tom Ingram,
Tom Chilton and the
Hyundai i30 for 2025, with the team rebranded to Team VERTU, A rebrand of car sales company
Bristol Street Motors to
VERTU Motors. Former
Team BMW driver
Adam Morgan returned to
FWD machinery, with
Michael Crees and a returning
Senna Proctor sharing the 4th Excelr8 car, swapping after 5 rounds. Tom Ingram secured a hat-trick of 2nd place finishes at Round 1 in
Donington, with
Tom Chilton securing Team VERTU's first win under the new name. The team would endure a winless
Brands Hatch as WSR took all 3 wins with 3 of their drivers.
Michael Crees was replaced by long time business friend Ryan Bensley for
Snetterton in the Miller Oils camo Hyundai. Ingram would make a rare mistake coming through Riches in race 2 which would see him down at the back for race 3, he recovered to P4 come the chequered flag. A misunderstanding of the driver swap limit rule saw
Senna Proctor's return come forward to round 4 at
Thruxton, with Crees being dropped for the remainder of the season.
Tom Ingram took his first win of
2025 in race 1 at
Thruxton, with 2 P2 finishes following. Proctor managed a P9, P6 and P4 on his first BTCC weekend since the
2021 season. 1 win at
Oulton Park for Tom Ingram saw him begin to seriously reel in
Ashley Sutton for the title. All 4 Team VERTU cars scored every race of Croft bar Proctor's race 2. Ingram won race 1 of
Croft with Proctor taking his first podium since his return.
Tom Chilton would take a P2 in race 2 with Ingram and Proctor taking P2 and P3 in the reverse grid race.
Knockhill saw Ingram take 1 win and a P3 after Proctor let Ingram by for the podium. The
Donington Park GP round was
Tom Chilton's first pole since
Knockhill 2011, with him converting it into a race 1 win. Ingram won race 3 at
Donington and followed it up with a race 2 win at Silverstone.
Adam Morgan and
Tom Chilton were the 2 Team VERTU cars who retired due to the bonnet flying up and a puncture respectively. Chilton would secure a P2 in race 1 of
Brands Hatch, followed by 2 retirements.
Tom Ingram would win race 2 to become the
2025 BTCC champion, and a two time champion, equalling the likes of
Jason Plato and
Fabrizio Giovanardi. By 2 points, Team VERTU would lose out to
NAPA Racing UK in the Teams' championship. For
2026, Team VERTU ran experienced drivers
Tom Ingram and
Tom Chilton once again, with a new pool of drivers alongside them after
Adam Morgan joined the new
Plato Racing Team RML, run by
Jason Plato, he was replaced in the
Draper Tools car by
Nicolas Hamilton.
Senna Proctor joined
NAPA Racing UK as a reserve driver and driver coach and was replaced by
British GT champion
Ricky Collard who returned after 2 seasons away.
Racing Record == Mini Challenge UK ==