Colin Turkington claimed his 68th career Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship victory at Brands Hatch this afternoon (Saturday), after dominating the opening race of the day on the Indy circuit. It was a lively encounter on the Kent circuit’s compact shorter layout, but Turkington was untroubled by the action behind as he serenely drove to the win from pole position.
Turkington made a strong start from the front row in his BMW 330e M Sport to hold position from Team BMW teammate Adam Morgan as the field streamed into Paddock Hill Bend for the first time. Behind the leading duo it was the NAPA Racing UK Fords on the move with Ashley Sutton moving into third ahead of Dan Cammish.
Sutton followed that up with a pass on Morgan for second on lap two before Cammish followed him past the next time around. This was the start of a gradual slide down the order for Morgan who had already dropped out of podium contention when he collided with Ronan Pearson on the approach to Druids on lap seven. In contrast, another of the BMWs was making rapid progress up the order with Jake Hill piloting the Laser Tools Racing branded entry into the top-10 after starting 12th.
Whilst Turkington continued to surge ahead at the front of the pack, Cammish began to attack teammate Sutton for second position, eventually completing a pass at Paddock Hill bend after gaining a strong run out of Clark Curve. Cammish’s joy was short lived however as, after edging away from Sutton, he suffered a puncture which eliminated him from the podium hunt.
Cammish’s elimination from the leading bunch left Turkington with a commanding gap, with Sutton second and Cook third. The battle for second intensified as the race entered its final 10 laps, with Cook catching Sutton and making several attempts to pass, but the door seemed like it was firmly closed on the chasing Toyota. Cook made a decisive move on lap 16 to take second, but found himself several seconds behind Turkington who was able to drive home to take the chequered flag in impressive style.
Cook held Sutton off to the line with Andrew Watson finishing fourth after coming out on top of an entertaining scrap for the positions just off the podium. Hill’s impressive charge through the pack ended with a hugely well deserved fifth after passing Daniel Rowbottom, Tom Chilton and series leader Tom Ingram on his way through the field.
Ingram wound up eighth, the same position in which he started, but that doesn’t tell the full story of his race. The 2022 champion seemed to be in wheel-to-wheel fights throughout the race with Hill and Chilton, and ran as high as sixth before eventually settling into his final placing.
Aiden Moffat and Aron Taylor-Smith completed the top-10 at the end of a hard fought 24 laps around the Indy circuit.
Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship, Brands Hatch, Race 1
- Colin Turkington, Team BMW, BMW 330e M Sport
- Josh Cook, LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ, Toyota Corolla GR Sport, +6.826s
- Ashley Sutton, NAPA Racing UK, Ford Focus ST, +8.722s
- Andrew Watson, TOYOTA GAZOO RACING UK, Toyota Corolla GR Sport, +13.762s
- Jake Hill, Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport, BMW 330e M Sport, +14.924s
- Daniel Rowbottom, NAPA Racing UK, Ford Focus ST, +15.386s
- Tom Chilton, Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS, Hyundai i30N, +19.342s
- Tom Ingram, Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS, Hyundai i30N, +19.474s
- Aiden Moffat, LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ, Toyota Corolla GR Sport, +20.669s
- Aron Taylor-Smith, , Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing, Vauxhall Astra, 27.024s
Click here for full results and timings from this weekend.