Laser Tools Racing’s Aiden Moffat won the first BTCC race of the day at the Brands Hatch season finale.
Jack Goff had started on pole but slid wide and spun at paddock hill, narrowly missing several cars as his Honda Civic speared across the track. Tom Ingram had pushed Moffat hard for much of the race but dropped back when he came under pressure himself from Ashley Sutton who was now in third. Ingram had passed Sutton early in the race and now Ingram wanted the place back.
The three drivers spent most of the race battling but the positions never changed again despite Sutton’s best efforts to pass Ingram. Moffat was overjoyed to score his second BTCC win with his first coming at Donington Park earlier this year;
“It’s a great way to end the season and a nice belated birthday present. The Laser Tools guys and the Ciceley Motorsport mob gave me a great car – it’s felt brilliant all weekend. It was hard in those conditions, getting into the lead and becoming the guinea pig. It’s about being cautious and not leaving yourself open to getting passed. I love those kind of conditions, though. I like the car moving and I’m comfortable with that.”
He continued;
“It was a frustrating mid-season for us after getting that first win at Donington Park we thought we’d cracked it. It didn’t amount to anything but to get that today is a great result. It’s a shame what happened to Jack [Goff], but it obviously helped us. We would have had a good battle though, I’m sure. There’s a party tonight and I’m half tempted to call it quits now! For the next one we’ve just got to hold our own with the ballast and then fight again in race three.”
Mat Jackson was fourth in his Team Shredded Wheat Ford Focus initially battling Rob Austin until the Handy Motorsport driver made a mistake at Graham Hill Bend to drop down the order.
Tom Chilton and Senna Proctor took fifth and sixth in their Powermaxed Vauxhalls, giving the team the manufacturer win for this round.
Honda’s Defending champion Shedden was an impressive seventh from a sixteenth place starting slot and also took a point for fastest lap. He had already dropped out of contention for this year’s title at Silverstone.
Dave Newsham took an excellent eighth for BTC Norlin passing the unfortunate Rob Austin while he was having his off track excursion at Graham Hill Bend. Matt Neal completed the top ten in his Halfords Yuasa Honda.
Turkington’s championship chances took a knock after he only managed to finish fifteenth to score a single point. He had been higher but dropped down on the final lap when contact with Matt Simpson’s Honda Civic also let Ollie Jackson’s AMD tuning Audi through as well.
After this race, Sutton held a 24 point advantage over Turkington with 44 still available so there was still all to play for.
2017 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Round 28 – Brands Hatch GP
1 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing 15 laps
2 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +0.345s
3 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +1.499s
4 Mat JACKSON (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +14.474s
5 Tom CHILTON (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +15.802s
6 Senna PROCTOR (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +16.195s
7 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +19.140s
8 Dave NEWSHAM (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +29.547s
9 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) Handy Motorsport +31.577s
10 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +41.344s
11 Chris SMILEY (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +47.480s
12 Jack GOFF (GBR) Eurotech Racing +47.708s
13 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Simpson Racing +49.110s
14 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts +50.241s
15 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +50.667s
16 Ant WHORTON-EALES (GBR) AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts +50.891s
17 Brett SMITH (GBR) Eurotech Racing +1m05.495s
18 Michael EPPS (GBR) TAG Racing +1m08.822s
19 James COLE (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +1m14.046s
20 Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport +1m14.698s
21 Martin DEPPER (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +1m24.787s
22 Josh PRICE (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +1m26.364s
23 Aron TAYLOR-SMITH (IRL) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +1m38.336s
24 Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +1 lap
25 Josh COOK (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +1 lap
26 Jake HILL (GBR) TAG Racing +1 lap
27 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) BMW Pirtek Racing +1 lap
28 Jason PLATO (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +1 lap
29 Stewart LINES (GBR) Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport +1 lap
DNF Adam MORGAN (GBR) Ciceley Motorsport +13 laps By Marc Waller
