Ashley Sutton has taken the 2017 Dunlop MSA British Touring car championship after a dramatic final race at Brands Hatch.
Turkington and Sutton were just six points apart going into the race and a close battle looked set to take place.
Rain had set in prior to the race leading the whole field to swap to wets for the race. Turkington had started tenth on the grid just in front of Sutton and they both started to progress up the field with Turkington appearing to have the advantage. But up ahead Tom Ingram and Mat Jackson made light contact. This sent Jackson’s car off at Graham Hill Bend. He rejoined just as Turkington was passing him in his BMW and Jackson’s car struck Turkington’s rear wheel. The impact was enough to break Turkington’s rear suspension and he drove to the pits and retirement. This meant the championship was now Sutton’s, whatever happened for the rest of the race.
Up ahead, Rob Austin was streaking away into the lead after passing Pole Sitter Epp’s VW CC. The Handy Motorsport Toyota looked comfortable and had pulled out a lead of over three seconds by the flag. The cheers from the Handy Motorsport team for Austin’s win were just as loud as the Subaru team cheered Sutton for the title!
Jack Goff was second, the Eurotech driver making up for his earlier disappointment when he had spun out of the lead of race one. He couldn’t catch Austin but remained comfortably ahead of Epps.
Sutton, meanwhile had been continuing his charge up the field that he’d started behind Turkington and he passed Epps in the closing stages to secure a place on the podium. Sutton takes the title with six wins and fourteen podiums meaning he has been on the podium in very nearly half the races of 2017
Tom Ingram took fourth, the Speedworks driver having already secured the independents title in race two. This result secured the independents teams title for Speedworks Motorsport. Ingram also moved up to third in the final overall championship standings, passing Shedden.
Epps eventually finished fifth in his VW CC ahead of Shedden’s Honda and Jackson’s Focus. Neal’s Honda was next up with Adam Morgan’s Mercedes in ninth. Jake Hill completed the top ten in his VW CC.
Despite the retirement out of the race of Colin Turkington. His team still claimed both the manufacturers’ championship for BMW but also the overall team’s title for Team BMW (WSR)
Senna Proctor had already won the Jack Sears Trophy Rookie title at Silverstone. Brett Smith won the award for the Brands Hatch Gp event.
The teams now head back to their bases for the winter but will be working away developing and testing for the new season and making deals with existing or new drivers. The new season starts at Brands Hatch in early April. Motorsport never fully rests!
2017 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Round 30 – Brands Hatch GP
1 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) Handy Motorsport 17 laps
2 Jack GOFF (GBR) Eurotech Racing +3.185s
3 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +4.741s
4 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +10.965s
5 Michael EPPS (GBR) TAG Racing +13.978s
6 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +15.024s
7 Mat JACKSON (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +15.330s
8 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +16.008s
9 Adam MORGAN (GBR) Ciceley Motorsport +22.924s
10 Jake HILL (GBR) TAG Racing +24.538s
11 Chris SMILEY (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +25.254s
12 Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +27.654s
13 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) BMW Pirtek Racing +29.191s
14 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +31.374s
15 Tom CHILTON (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +31.757s
16 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts +31.924s
17 Dave NEWSHAM (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +32.385s
18 Brett SMITH (GBR) Eurotech Racing +32.540s
19 Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport +35.108s
20 Aron TAYLOR-SMITH (IRL) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +35.319s
21 Stewart LINES (GBR) Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport +35.649s
22 Jason PLATO (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +37.243s
23 Martin DEPPER (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +40.577s
24 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Simpson Racing +42.337s
25 Ant WHORTON-EALES (GBR) AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts +45.225s
26 James COLE (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +45.749s
27 Josh PRICE (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +8 laps
28 Josh COOK (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +10 laps
29 Senna PROCTOR (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +15 laps
30 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +16 laps By Marc Waller
