[BTCC] Round Ten, Brands Hatch GP 08-09 Oct, Races 28,29 & 30

[Robin Marriott]

Very classy from Ash.

[porsche962fan]

nice gesture from Sutton with the no 1 sticker

[Evantra]

Ahhh finally! So well deserved! And great to have a finale not dictated by contact, and all three contenders battling together.

Gutted for Thompson, should've been another podium. And what happened to Crees!

[Matt K]

Nice sportsmanship from Ash, very classy. Love watching such scenes in sport.

[Robin Marriott]

Originally Posted by Evantra

Gutted for Thompson, should've been another podium.

Agreed, Bobby was having a blinder today, he was on another level compared to any other HARD driver and looked like he was on track for his best result ever, big shame.

[5five]

Congrats to Ingram for the championship - well deserved. Race 2 and Race 3 were nailbiting.

Hopefully we'll be seeing Ingram, Sutton, Hill and others battling for years to come.

[Craner Curves]

A worthy champion, congratulations to Tom Ingram. I'm glad someone was able to infiltrate the RWD and Sutton/Turkington stranglehold. Fair play to Hill for having a crack, his time will come. Just as exciting a driver as Sutton.

[BTCC frog]

Isn't that wonderful? What a champion!

[CaptRustyNail]

So pleased for Tom! Been superb since he came to the series!

[pimmy]

Ingram totally deserves it. Ginetta Junior champion, Ginetta G50 champion, Ginetta G55 champion, BTCC Independent champion and now overall BTCC champion. I was worried he'd become another Mat Jackson in the BTCC.

10th-22nd in race 3 were covered by only 4 seconds at the finish of race 3. We'll probably never see what happened.

[schanche]

Brands provided fantastic racing as usual Tom Ash and Jake were phenomenal this weekend quality race craft by all, happy for Tom an the team loved his comment that he wished he had an adult in the car with him very funny spat my tea out at that. Speed of Jake in the BM outclassed Colin by a long way and Ash how he held on is beyond me exceptional drive, runner up in your first year in FWD fair play.

[Evantra]

A couple reprimands for the last race suggests Collard turned Rowbottom into his spin (so lucky not to get hit!), and it was Edwards causing the contact / roll with Crees. Sounds like it dug in and tipped rather than a high speed roll.

[FFSM]

Delighted for Tingram! Really thought it was a bit of a "now or never" season for him. Hopefully the Ingram / Sutton / Hill battle is one we'll see repeated for a few years yet.

Special mention to Jake, who has really matured this year. I think his time will come...

[Sodemo]

Congrats to Ingram, undoubtedly a great driver so it’s a deserved win. A shame Turkington couldn’t put up a stronger challenge, it seems as though he struggled more with the car than previous years. I recall some races where he was ahead of Hill and others where Colin was ahead, so I guess it flip flopped a bit, but Hill is certainly Colin’s best team mate since Jordan in terms of raw pace. I sure hope Hill does another year with WSR.

[Craner Curves]

Originally Posted by Sodemo

Congrats to Ingram, undoubtedly a great driver so it’s a deserved win. A shame Turkington couldn’t put up a stronger challenge, it seems as though he struggled more with the car than previous years. I recall some races where he was ahead of Hill and others where Colin was ahead, so I guess it flip flopped a bit, but Hill is certainly Colin’s best team mate since Jordan in terms of raw pace. I sure hope Hill does another year with WSR.

Dare I say it, but Turkington's 19 title was more about luck. I think that BMW requires an aggressive style to get the max out of it, and Jordan and Hill are the sort of drivers who can do that. Turkington is a bit more smooth and controlled and I don't think it suits him as much.

[Matt K]

Originally Posted by FFSM

Special mention to Jake, who has really matured this year. I think his time will come...

On one hand he did mature but on the other quite a few mistakes he made this year probably prevented him getting the title in the end.
But yeah, after first few rounds I thought he wouldn't stand a chance to Turks while in the end he outscored him by quite a solid margin. Almost sure he's the champion in the waiting but still needs to get some more experience.

[steve_r]

I am delighted for Ingram. He's been a great driver for years, and now finally gets the title he deserves. The last race was quality - a great end to a very good season.

[antnee]

Great days racing, especially by Ingram who didn't put a foot wrong all day - I am glad he has finally won a title after being so close for so long. Hill does really look at home in that BMW, it was a shame he had a few silly contacts in R1 (Sutton at the start, then into side of Bobby) as otherwise it was 3 very clean races at the front.

[yellowbeard]

Really happy to see Tingram take the title, a very deserving champion. I was almost as happy to see Hill get some karma for his antics in race 1 (and previous rounds) by Colin blocking him from passing and helping Tingram to the title. I wonder if they'll be team mates next year ?

[CroftPilgrim]

Originally Posted by Matt K

On one hand he did mature but on the other quite a few mistakes he made this year probably prevented him getting the title in the end.
But yeah, after first few rounds I thought he wouldn't stand a chance to Turks while in the end he outscored him by quite a solid margin. Almost sure he's the champion in the waiting but still needs to get some more experience.

Yes would have been a different story if he hadn't got himself disqualified in the first race of the season.

But then hindsight is a wonderful thing! Hill 2023 champion I reckon

[hen henths]

I'm also very happy for Ingram. It was so overdue! Some excellent drives this year and that car was impressive. Well done and congratulations!

Sutton fought incredibly hard right to the end. I'll never forget that epic defence in the first race and without a working turbo! Despite the contact I think the drivers behind him deserve credit too for not firing him off. I could hardly watch! It was a valiant effort this year and if they'd only got his new car dialed in just a little earlier in the season he'd have got it. It'll be fascinating to see how it goes next year for him and, well, for all his top class rivals. It's an exciting time in the BTCC's history.

At the same time I'm sad to see Mr Plato probably definitely retiring. I know it has to happen some day but I grew up watching him, avidly followed his whole career. Now we're both quite a lot older and it's the end of an era. It's not so long ago I was excitedly watching him bagging lots of wins in the MG and VW and then hopeful and intrigued when he brought the Subaru to the BTCC. Best of luck for the future JP and thanks for the hundreds of hours of great entertainment! (I still secretly hope he'll come back for a few more races at some point - since we live in topsy turvy land now how about him and Neal as Dynamics team mates? )

I didn't see much of the podium coverage but did they do away with the champagne this time? If they did I could understand why given recent political headlines and the socioeconomic climate although it's always been an iconic tradition in motorsport.

[S griffin]

Went to Brands Hatch for both days. Was it as good as I expected? No! It was better than that! Where do I begin?

If you think Brands looks good on TV, you should go there yourself. During Saturday I managed to watch from every available vantage point. TV cannot do justice to the steepness of the dips and rises. It's amazing how close you can get to the track too. The amount of times I thought a driver was going too fast for the corner but managed to stop in time. Also it's a track that looks different from each vantage point. Going from the Indy loop to the GP loop, you'd swear you had just entered a different circuit. If you want to see drivers on the limit, go to Hawthorns during a practice or qualifying session, you will see them earning their money. Anyone who has seen F1, Indycars or World Sportscars here is one lucky git!

Brands is such a great circuit that prides itself on it's history and it was nice to watch all 3 BTCC races in the grandstand with so many other knowledgeable and passionate fans. It was also nice to have a quick chat with a certain ex BTCC champion in Chris Hodgetts in the support paddock

Onto the racing. I am so glad for Tingram. He's been so close to the title for quite a few years and if he missed out again this year, he must have been beginning to wonder if he ever would. But he grasped the opportunity with perfection in the first two races, then a steady mature drive in R3 when in the pack. So glad I stayed for the prizegiving, although I regret missing the chance to go onto the track then.

Hill certainly didn't give up right to the end and he will have plenty of chances for the future. He certainly has arrived this year. Sutton seemed to lack pace in the races, but he still defended as best he could. Looked quite racey in the early part of R3, then deja vu happened and he was the cork in the bottle again. Very nice to see him give Tingram the trophy. As Arsene Wenger was once told, sometimes you have to let someone else have their turn.

Turkington gave it his best shot, but his chances were pretty much over after qualifying, unless something happened to the other 3. I wonder how his underwear was after R3 after that scary moment with Rowbo. I was worried even if no one hit Daniel, that we might have a secondary shunt, one that could be like the one in F3000 in 1988

Good to see Lloyd cap a great weekend for his team with win in the final race. Nice to see Bobby Thompson up there, he looked on it all weekend. Also good to see Patterson qualify 7th, shame he got taken off early on. But his team mate Moffat had a good race fending from others in R3. Shame Plato wasn't able to go out on a high, if that really is his last race

Glad Creesy was ok after that off. Same with Will Martin. We were actually up on the inside of Druids when the incident, but somehow didn't hear the thump behind us

Support race action was quite good, apart from the constant SCs and red flags. Nice to see the Ginetta juniors go out on a high with a great race. The GT supercars were quite good too

All in all, it's been a great weekend and makes me want to go to more in 2023!

[Evantra]

Video of the Crees incident - https://twitter.com/creesy777/status...203066371?s=21

[GT6]

Well had a great time yesterday, the racing was good the weather wonderful for the time of year and the fans certainly turned out. Congratulations to Tom and to everyone that made the event and the season so good. roll on next year now

[Pickles]

What a great weekend, fantastic final race and a very deserving champion. Awesome to see Bobby wrap up the JST in Race 1, just a shame the head gasket finally let go in Race 3, he was set to give Lloyd a real fight for that win.