Ash Sutton and Tom Ingram went into the weekend both with a hope at glory. Whilst Kent racers Jake Hill and Michael Crees were hoping for some success of their own.
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00:00 Today at Brands Hatch, the 2023 British Touring Car Championship season will reach its conclusion.
00:06 Ash Sutton has been dominant all season long, but Tom Ingram is knocking on the door,
00:10 ready to push him off the top step. As for our two Kent drivers, Jake Hill was far too
00:16 away on points to claim the title, but still stood within grips of second place overall.
00:21 And Broadstairs-born Michael Kreese sat 23rd in the championship after rejoining the independent
00:26 team hard mid-way through the season. He was hoping to take advantage of the weekend's format
00:32 to get ahead. "We had a bit of trouble with the car yesterday in qualifying. We had a few issues
00:37 developed with it and a bit of set-up problems as well. So we're pretty much starting 24th I
00:42 think today, so we can only go forward. I mean there's 27 on the grid, but I think my aspiration
00:48 is top 15, get some points and then try and get into the top 12 for the race two and then hopefully
00:53 get a reverse grid like I did at Shields and then start on pole for race three." Back up at the top
00:57 and 46 points ahead of his rivals, Sutton just had to deny Ingram a race win to confirm his fourth
01:04 championship title. His team, Rooten-based Alliance Racing, is set to move north to rugby next season,
01:10 meaning winning the title here at Brands Hatch would be the last time they could call it a home
01:14 race. But with three races in the day, Tom Ingram tried his best to keep the championship alive as
01:21 long as he could. The Bristol Street Motors man used a safety car in race one to his advantage.
01:27 Where the 1.3 second gap between him and Sutton was depleted, the pack bunched up to tee up a
01:33 two-race sprint to the line to keep that championship running. But despite the late
01:38 drama and leading from pole position, 28-year-old Sutton kept it clean and calm to bring it home
01:45 and become the youngest ever four-time British Touring Champion. "I was just trying to soak it
01:51 all up. It's just mega. To claim a fourth title, the only driver to do it in a front-wheel drive
01:57 car and a rear-wheel drive car is phenomenal. But big thanks to the team behind me, Napa Racing UK,
02:03 Alliance Racing. We were sort of nursing a noise from the front of the car in terms of a tyre
02:08 issue and I didn't want to get a punch out. We just focused on bringing it home but the pressure
02:14 is definitely on there at the end. But to get over the line, it was a sigh of relief." With the
02:18 championship already secured, the intensity of the final two races were somewhat subdued but
02:23 no less entertaining. Mechanical issues for Michael Kreese meant not finishing the final two races,
02:29 but it was the newly crowned champion Sutton who commandingly won race two from pole,
02:35 equaling the modern day record of 12 wins in a season. "And there we have it. Huge cheers behind
02:42 me as Ash Sutton claims his first win after becoming a four-time British Touring Car Champion
02:48 and adding another podium to his dominant tally this season." Race three features a reverse grid
02:56 where the champ had to start in ninth for the final round of the season. But for Platseeth
03:00 driver Jake Hill, it meant the opportunity to end things on a high as he took advantage of a
03:05 sensational wheel-to-wheel battle with Stephen Jelly and Josh Cook, incredibly slicing past both
03:11 in one move to take his sixth win of the season, ultimately sitting third in the standings overall,
03:17 equaling his best ever result. So as the sun sets on a glorious Touring Car Championship season,
03:23 Kent's involvement here at Brands Hatch in the premiere of Britain's racing calendar
03:28 awaits its return in 2024.