The Chevrolet Lacetti made its race debut at the opening round of the revived World Touring Car Championship in 2005. Chevrolet's rivals - Alfa Romeo, BMW, and SEAT - had all raced in the European Touring Car Championship previously, so the RML-run team faced an uphill battle to catch up. 2005 proved to be a pretty brutal season for the Lacetti, with all three drivers ending the year outside the top 15 in the standings.
That was followed up with a stronger second season, though one where all three drivers again made little impression in the standings. Alain Menu took the first podium finish for the Lacetti at Monza in the opening weekend, then claimed its first race victory at Brands Hatch soon after. He only finished in the points in three other races however, which summed up the inconsistent nature of the car at this stage.
Rob Huff finished in the points the same number of times, and also scored a race victory; his came at Brno in the latter stages of the year. Nicola Larini ended the year highest in the standings in 12th, taking consecutive third place finishes at Istanbul and Valencia, but missed out on a win.
2007 saw another step forward, with all three drivers ending the season within the top ten in the championship. Larini led the way for the third year in a row, despite once again not winning a race. He ended up fifth thanks to six podiums and fairly consistent points finishes. Menu followed in sixth place with a heavily contrasted season; five race wins and two further podiums cancelled out by lots of non-scores. Huff rounded out the line-up in ninth with four podiums, including one victory.
Its first half season in the hands of Aiden Moffat was largely uneventful, with the Q50 proving relatively uncompetitive. A freak second place in unpredictable conditions at Silverstone was a clear highlight, and provided Infiniti with its first ever podium in the championship; an outcome nobody could have anticipated just a few months prior.
2020 would be the year the Q50's reputation was turned on its head entirely, however. Expanding to a two car squad, the team signed 2017 champion Ash Sutton and recruited staff from his former team (the BMR manufacturer Subaru entry); and the rest was history. Right from the first round the Infiniti was an entirely new beast, with Sutton securing its first race win in only his third race in the car. He took four further victories en route to his second BTCC crown, completing a scarcely believable redemption arc for the Q50.
Things got even better in 2021, with Sutton once again scoring five race wins to claim the drivers' title. Aiden Moffat enjoyed a far better second season with the Q50, scoring a race win and a few podiums as he ended the year eighth in the standings. Sutton moved on for the 2022 season, and the Infiniti rapidly dropped off the pace in its final season. Regardless, its incredibly unlikely place in BTCC folklore was well and truly established.