£350k stolen racing car found after ransom call

£350k stolen racing car found after ransom callTammy Gooding - BBC Hereford & Worcester; Andrew Dawkins - West Midlands Fri, November 13, 2026 at 1:59 PM UTC

Power Maxed Racing's Dexter Patterson BTCC Audi was stolen from the compound of an exhibition centre

A stolen racing car worth about £350,000 has been found, its team says, after its boss was sent a FaceTime video of the vehicle in an attempt to demand a ransom.

British Touring Car Championship team Power Maxed Racing, based in Studley, Warwickshire, England, said Dexter Patterson's BTCC Audi was taken from a compound at the ExCeL London exhibition centre on Wednesday night.

Team principal Adam Weaver said he told the caller he could not organise the cash on Thursday night and wanted to sleep on it.

But the team, whose former headquarters near Evesham was destroyed in a fire in 2025, said he later received another call saying police had been alerted and the car was on a road still in London.

Weaver has said the team had taken the car to the London venue for filming and promotional work.

It was put into a trailer, which was locked in the Excel's secure car park overnight, but Weaver said he was told three people managed to gain access to the site.

They brought in a vehicle and towed away the trailer with the car inside, Weaver added.

On Friday he told BBC Hereford & Worcester that late on Thursday night police recovered the vehicle, following news coverage and the incident being "shared across so many people's social media".

"I did actually get a telephone call with somebody FaceTiming me showing me the car trying to get the ransom and I was trying to figure out how I could.

"They were asking me to bring cash and they'd give me the car back.

Team principal Adam Weaver said it was "fantastic", after getting the call to say it had been recovered

"I had a conversation with them and basically said 'look it's not gonna happen tonight'."

Weaver added the caller said he would make contact in the morning but before he did the police got in touch to say the car had been recovered close to the Excel.

The team principal said the team had taken steps to keep the car secure by wheel-clamping the trailer and backing it up to another vehicle so it could not be opened.

But at about 02:30 GMT on Thursday, the trailer was stolen with the car in, he added.

"I was going to bed [on Thursday] actually working out 'do I risk trying to get the money together to go and meet these people to get the car back' and was having to deal with that.

"Then all of a sudden I got the call to say it had been recovered. It was fantastic."

The racing car had been put in a trailer and left in the secure compound at the ExCel London exhibition centre

A post on Power Maxed Racing's Facebook page said the car would now "be with us for our Black Friday event" later this month.

It thanked "everybody who shared our previous post and made the car and trailer too hot to be handled".

Criminologist Dr Anthony Gunter, from The Open University, said he believed the thieves had been after the trailer, which could be sold in parts on the underground market.

"It looks like they took the trailer and then someone said 'oh Houston, we have a problem'," he said.

Gunter said they had probably not realised the car was still inside, and that while it was likely worth more than the trailer, it was impossible to sell, even for parts.

"Everyone knows what it is and there's no market for it," he added.

On Thursday evening, Excel London said it was "aware of an incident in relation to a vehicle theft" and its security team was working "with all relevant stakeholders to investigate the matter, which, of course, we take extremely seriously".

The Metroplitan Police said it did not comment on individual cases of car theft.

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