The 2025 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship will go down to the wire in less than two weeks’ time at Brands Hatch with Tom Ingram and Ash Sutton going head-to-head for the biggest prize in UK motorsport.
Holding a 33-point lead over his long-time adversary, Ingram will go into the finale in the box seat having been one of three drivers to triumph during the penultimate event of the season at Silverstone this past weekend (September 20/21).
In what was a feel-good visit to the Home of British Motor Racing, the battle for supremacy began in a wet-dry qualifying session on Saturday which culminated in West Surrey Racing’s Daryl DeLeon becoming the first Filipino driver to snare a BTCC pole position.
DeLeon would sadly be unable to convert his front row start in Sunday’s opening contest as Daniel Lloyd delivered a masterful performance to claim his first win in more than 1000 days and the first win ever for Restart Racing.
Dispatching former champions Gordon Shedden and Jake Hill in quick succession, Lloyd held his own out front and never looked like faltering. In the end the race would finish behind the safety car following a fire for Nicolas Hamilton’s Cupra, giving Lloyd the win ahead of Hill and Shedden.
Having battled his way into the top ten in race one following a lacklustre qualifying, all eyes were rightly on Ingram for race two and the Team VERTU lived up to all expectations as he cruised to his sixth win of the campaign.
Bolting on the soft tyre to his Hyundai i30 N, the 2022 title winner was up to third place at the end of the opening lap and then moments later, he was clear of the entire field. Despite having to contend with a late safety car, Ingram cruised to victory ahead of Sutton and Hill.
Arguably the biggest cheer of the weekend was saved for the reverse grid finale as NAPA Racing UK’s Sam Osborne produced a flawless driver to clinch a memorable maiden victory.
Starting from pole position virtue of the reverse grid draw, the Ford Focus ST driver had to contend with race-long pressure from Josh Cook in the Toyota however Osborne was wheel-perfect as he charged to the chequered flag ahead of Cook and Sutton.
Heading to the legendary Brands Hatch circuit, Ingram holds a 33-point advantage however with 67 points still up for grabs, nothing is guaranteed. The battle for third place has also closed up between Hill, Dan Cammish and Dan Rowbottom.
Alliance Racing/Ford hold a two-point lead in the Manufacturers’/Constructors’ order over EXCELR8 Motorsport/Hyundai, whilst the same two outfits under their NAPA Racing UK and Team VERTU names are separated by three points in the Teams’ table.
Lloyd, Mikey Doble and Chris Smiley are blanketed by just a handful of points in the Independent Drivers’ Championship while Restart Racing have already secured an unassailable lead in the Independent Teams’ Championship.
In the battle for Jack Sears Trophy supremacy, just eight points is the difference between BMW stablemates DeLeon and Charles Rainford.
Elsewhere on the TOCA support bill, Fionn McLaughlin edged closer to the Wera Tools F4 Championship certified by FIA title as he extended his lead in the standings to 61.5 points over James Piszcyk and Martin Molnar.
The Hitech TGR driver was perfection personified to win race one of the weekend however the Red Bull Junior ace could do nothing to stop Ethan Jeff-Hall and Tommy Harfield claiming a win apiece in races two and three.
Tom Ovenden remains on course to lift the VERTU MINI CHALLENGE JCW crown after title rival Jamie Osborne was forced to sit out Silverstone on medical grounds. Max Edmundson enjoyed his strongest outing to-date as he claimed two wins while Nathan Edwards was also a winner.
Elsewhere, Matthew Kyle-Henney and Samuel Harvey shared the spoils in the Porsche Sprint Challenge Great Britain while Andrew Rackstraw and Sebastian Hopkins claimed a win apiece in the Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain.
To view the full classification of results from all sessions, CLICK HERE.
