The final round of the BTCC three races on Sunday to decide the Championship. Three drivers in the hunt for the Championship and to cap it all on the GP circuit. Who would clinch it out of Jason Plato, Colin Turkington & Fabrizio Giovanardi tomorrow would tell. But qualifying would go a long way to deciding it, so as I unpacked my kit Friday night I was thinking about who I would like to win.
Arrived Friday evening at 18.30 had 30mins to get set up before it got dark, got the tent up and pegged out before night fell. Had to do a good job as storms were forecast. Finished by 19.45 and had a beer, phoned the wife and kids, had few more beers and had supper.
Next morning was a bit overcast & windy but not too bad, but not sun bathing weather. Woke early as I had set the alarm clock for 6.00 to listen to the Japanese GP practices but it wasn't on medium wave you had to have a DAB receiver to get on Radio 5 extra so was not very impressed. So in the showers by 7.30 they really are crap, no pegs to hang your stuff so we had to put our clothes in the sinks whilst showering as the alternative was the floor which was soaking wet. Anyway had a good laugh with two other guys as we moaned about how useless these showers were. Back to the tent and on my way back the smell of bacon frying was it, I had to get off to the supermarket and get some. Drove to Swanley which is the nearest town to Brands Hatch and went to ASDA which dominates the whole town. Most of the regular shops have closed up and there is only ASDA there, maybe they should rename it Asdaley.
So after the bacon sandwich and 4 cups of tea it off to the track. At 10.00 it was the first free practice of the BTCC didn't want to miss that. Watched the cars as I wandered around the track, I always like to walk around the track at Brands as it is quite pretty, especially today as we had the GP circuit to enjoy. Takes a good hour and a half 2 hours to do the GP circuit not constant walking as now and again stop and enjoy the racing. I wonder why they use both circuits is because noise restrictions or to mix it up, with BTCC coming here twice in the season it is like two venues with the GP and Indy circuit being used.
Tom Chilton was fastest in practice which was a surprise but didn't pay too much attention as it is the qualifying speed that matters. Also this was the first time back at the GP circuit for the BTCC for some years so maybe it was a set up issue.
Qualifying started at 15.40 it was getting quite cold up here in the grandstand at Paddock fairly strong wind and very cloudy. Chilton then continued his impressive form by lapping in 1m33.159s on only his second flying lap of the session, to take his first BTCC pole for two years. It was also the first time a Ford had qualified on a BTCC pole since the final round of the 2000 season. All this in a car that started the season at the back goes to show what goes into developing these cars.
Oddly Chilton's team-mate Tom Onslow-Cole failed three ride-height tests and had all his times deleted, leaving him last on the grid. When interviewed at the end of qualifying Onslow-Cole compared his team’s results to book ends as each was at either end off the grid. Title contenders Jason Plato and Fabrizio Giovanardi qualified second and third in their RML Chevrolet and Vauxhall respectively. Each driver was within three hundredths of a second of the pole time. Matt Neal and Andrew Jordan made it a Vauxhall lock-out from third to fifth, ahead of Plato's team-mate Mat Jackson. Not so good for series leader Colin Turkington. The WSR BMW driver could only manage 10th on the grid with his 45kg of success ballast, giving him a difficult task to get points in Sunday's opening race. But that is what keeps the BTCC as interesting as it is, why it is the most supported and followed domestic racing series.
After the qualifying it was time for a walk round the circuit and round the trade stalls. Got back to the camp site at 17.30 and had a beer, phoned the wife and kids, had another beer etc. Bit of a nuisance as my gas bottle for the light had run out last night, no worries I have a spare, blow me that ran out after 10mins what are the chances of that? So an early night was in order as I am not keen on sitting in the dark, anyway it was another early start as the GP started at 5.30.
Great race with the top 3 finishing where they started Vettel winner, Trulli 2nd & Hamilton 3rd potential unemployment has seemed to get Trulli to pull his finger out. So good race all round Button finished a point behind Barrichelo so that’s good, keeping the scorecard ticking over and his competitor not running away. That will do, not terribly exciting but effective strategy for the world championship. Thought I would skip the dubious delights of showering today, and had a large bacon sandwich and few cups of tea.
Got part packed away as the first race I wanted to catch was the Formula Renault starting at 10.55. Over to the track and did the usual followed the race from the trackside as I strolled around couldn't do the entire circuit as the first BTCC race was at 11.45. Anyway got to my seat at Paddock with minutes to spare good position high up and close to the Paddock Hill Corner.
What a race! Jason Plato snatched a dramatic win by passing Tom Chilton at the final corner of the race to secure the win. You had to have some sympathy for Chilton he led from pole and Plato done him on the last corner. This set up the rest of the meeting as this result halved the points differnce in the championship.
This was Plato's fifth win of the year and now he was only 14 points behind championship leader Colin Turkington with 34 still up for grabs.
Fabrizio Giovanardi, who was chasing a third straight title, completed the podium places in his Vauxhall making him only six points adrift of the leader Turkingham.
So we went into the 2nd race with only 8 points between the top 3 drivers in 3 different teams in 3 different cars, how good is that. The next race wasn't for a couple of hours so I thought that would pack up everything and make a clean get away after the last race. However the tent was still a bit damp after the showers in the night so got everything else packed up.
Back to the track and had a walk around the trade stalls then in place for the 2nd BTCC race of the day 14.20.
Jason Plato ensured that the BTCC title would go to the last race of the season as he clinched his second win of the day at Brands Hatch. The 2001 champion was outsprinted by Tom Chilton off the line and sat on the tail of the Arena Ford Focus until two laps from the end, when the RML Chevrolet driver nudged his rival slightly wide at Druids and slipped by for his seventh win of the season. What a drive no wonder he is the fans favourite. Fabrizio Giovanardi gets second by passing Chilton three corners later, making his move Hawthorn Bend after previously being elbowed onto the grass exiting the preceding bend at Surtees. Then Colin Turkington got third at the very next corner he too got by Chilton to complete the podium behind his two title rivals. You couldn't have written the script better. With just one race to go, Turkington leads Giovanardi by four points with Plato a further four behind, meaning any one of them could still be crowned champion and the last race to come and they are still only separated by 8 points.
Last race to come some it was another stroll round the track, I think it looks like a park with the race track in the middle weather really quite nice now what a great place to be living in England.
Colin Turkington clinches the British Touring Car Championship; Jason Plato wins the final race of the season. Turkington's second place is enough to give him his first BTCC title by just five points from Plato, who today became only the second man in championship history to win three races in a day. This is a fantastic achievement bearing in mind he was carrying 45kg in the second and third races.
Fabrizio Giovanardi finished fourth after Tom Chilton this left him third in the championship as a result, nine points behind Turkington. For the British fans this gave them what they wanted, Plato gets the hat trick Turkington the title. With the reverse grid Matt Neal was on pole he was playing a team game and bunched up the cars to give Giovanardi the best chance but lost the lead to Jonathan Adam's Motorbase BMW at Surtees on the opening lap, but immediately grabbed it back as the pair made contact, sending Adam spinning onto the grass. Just yards behind, Adam's team mate Rob Collard was spun into the barriers after contact from Chilton. The chaos allowed Chilton to move into second ahead of Giovanardi and Turkington. After a number of hairy moments involving the leading pack, Turkington grabbed second from Chilton at Westfield on lap four, swiftly followed through by Giovanardi, as all the while Plato caught the pack, having started eighth on the grid. Turkington led at Druids on lap nine, elbowing Neal onto the grass at the exit of the corner. Giovanardi made it by too with Plato passing his old rival at Sheene on the same lap. Plato would be leading by a few corners later. Giovanardi and Turkington hit each other at Clearways, slowing the BMW and Vauxhall out of the corner and allowing Plato to out-drag the pair and drive around the outside of them at Paddock. After that Plato drove off to his seventh win of the year. Turkington and Giovanardi though, repeated their antics on lap 10, orange BMW squeezing red and white Vauxhall towards the pit wall, allowing Chilton to split the pair.
So you see why BTCC is so popular great races, great show in cars you can recognise and drivers that you know. A great weekend’s entertainment for £65 you will not get better value than that. With 37,000 attending for race day who no doubt will be back next year.