BTCC to crown champion at Brands Hatch finale

They have a combined 119 wins and three titles between them in their distinguished BTCC careers, and on Sunday either Colin Turkington or Jason Plato will be crowned 2014 champion at the epochal Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit.

After another engrossing season, the battle for the championship will once again be decided at the famous old Kent track. But unlike 2013, just two drivers remain in contention, and the odds are heavily stacked in one’s favour.

Triple Eight’s Plato trails West Surrey Racing’s Turkington by 50 points, one fewer than his deficit to Andrew Jordan before the final round of 2013.

The difference 12 months ago was Gordon Shedden, Matt Neal and Turkington himself were in between the MG and the Honda Civic in the standings – which nevertheless failed to make proceedings any less dramatic for the 2001 and 2010 champion.

Plato won two races on the day, and coupled with Jordan’s first DNF of the year in the second race, and the speed of Shedden, the battle went all the way to the 30th and final race.

Some may be a little surprised to see the same thing happen this time around – but when has the BTCC ever been predictable? Plato won two races at Silverstone, closely tailed by Turkington each time, before the 2009 champion pipped Plato to the podium in the finale.

The Grand Prix circuit is one of Plato’s strongest tracks, and while Turkington’s BMW 125i may not be as well suited to it on paper, he’s been tearing up the form book in that regard all year.

While the drivers’ crown is sure to draw the bulk of the attention, plenty more silverware is up for grabs. MG lead Honda by 28 points in the manufacturers’ standings, and Plato has been talking up this title as his main aim this weekend.

West Surrey Racing will be looking to wrap up the teams’ championship, after winning the independent teams’ title at Silverstone, while Turkington bagged the independent drivers’ trophy at Silverstone – the fourth of his BTCC career.

Mathematically, Honda Racing Team’s Shedden can still catch Plato for second, sitting the same 50 points behind him as Plato sits behind Turkington. But the more likely outcome for the Scot is a battle with the ever-consistent and quick Mat Jackson for third.

The Motorbase Performance man is 34 points behind Shedden going into his team’s home race, and remains the only driver with a 100 per cent finishing record in 2014. He will also be looking to end the team’s long association with sponsor Airwaves on a high.

Outgoing champion Andrew Jordan is just four points further back, while Matt Neal and Sam Tordoff are tied for seventh after tough years for both men. There will be further intrigue to see who comes out on top at Team BMR, as Aron Smith leads team-mate and touring car legend Alain Menu by three points at the tail end of the top 10.

At the other end of the spectrum, six drivers go into Brands Hatch trying to avoid ending the season pointless. Simon Belcher, Aiden Moffat, Luke Hines, Chris Stockton and Ollie Jackson are still yet to get off the mark, while Jackson’s team-mate and team boss Dan Welch sits on an unenviable minus 40 points, after a string of engine changes.

Hines is competing in his second weekend for United Autosports, who have already confirmed James Cole’s car has been successfully rebuilt after his Silverstone accident with Robb Holland.

Holland hands over driving duties to Tony Gilham this weekend, with the Kent driver having already tweeted pictures of his repaired Audi S3.

Should the record 31-car grid all take to the track this weekend, it will cap a remarkable season for the size and reliability of the grid. Welch missed the Brands opener due to his car not being finished, and Holland skipped Thruxton due to damage, but no other cars have missed any rounds. The TBL system can also be hailed as a success, with only two driver changes all season.

In 48 hours’ time, the time for talking will be over. But for now, the final word has to go to the two title contenders.

“It’s going to be a nail biter for everybody,” said Turkington. “I have a good cushion in the points and people talk about having one hand on the title, but one hand is no good – I need to have two on it.

“Brands Hatch is a fantastic circuit and every driver enjoys it – I think our BMW will be good there too.

“At least I only have one other driver to worry about. When I won the championship in 2009 there was three of us going for the title but now it’s just me versus Jason and I’m hungrier than ever.”

Plato added: “I’m not interested in the championship – the most important thing for me at Brands is to win some races.

“The manufacturers’ championship is at the forefront of my mind and at all costs we must win this. We’re still in the lead and I think we go to Brands looking really good for wins.”

BTCC ROUND 10 BRANDS HATCH GRAND PRIX – ENTRY LIST

No – Driver – Team Name – Car – Engine Builder/Marque
4 – Matt Neal – Honda Racing Team – Honda Civic Tourer – Neil Brown/Honda
52 – Gordon Shedden – Honda Racing Team – Honda Civic Tourer – Neil Brown/Honda
88 – Sam Tordoff – Triple Eight Race Engineering – MG6 GT – Swindon/TOCA
99 – Jason Plato – Triple Eight Race Engineering – MG6 GT – Swindon/TOCA
888 – Marc Hynes – Triple Eight Race Engineering – MG6 GT – Swindon/TOCA
1 – Andrew Jordan – Eurotech Racing – Honda Civic Hatchback – Neil Brown/Honda
30 – Martin Depper – Eurotech Racing – Honda Civic Hatchback – Neil Brown/Honda
5 – Colin Turkington – West Surrey Racing – BMW 125i M – Neil Brown/BMW
10 – Rob Collard – West Surrey Racing – BMW 125i M – Neil Brown/BMW
18 – Nick Foster – West Surrey Racing – BMW 125i M – Neil Brown/BMW
6 – Mat Jackson – Motorbase Performance – Ford Focus ST – Mountune/Ford
7 – Fabrizio Giovanardi – Motorbase Performance – Ford Focus ST – Mountune/Ford
44 – Jack Clarke – Motorbase Performance – Ford Focus ST – Mountune/Ford
33 – Adam Morgan – Ciceley Racing – Mercedes-Benz A-Class – Swindon/TOCA
80 – Tom Ingram – Speedworks Motorsport – Toyota Avensis – Swindon/TOCA
11 – Simon Belcher – Speedworks Motorsport – Toyota Avensis – Swindon/TOCA
101 – Rob Austin – Rob Austin Racing – Audi A4 – Swindon/TOCA
54 – Hunter Abbott – Rob Austin Racing – Audi A4 – Swindon/TOCA
39 – Warren Scott – Team BMR – Volkswagen CC – Swindon/TOCA
31 – Jack Goff – Team BMR – Volkswagen CC – Swindon/TOCA
9 – Alain Menu – Team BMR – Volkswagen CC – Swindon/TOCA
40 – Aron Smith – Team BMR – Volkswagen CC – Swindon/TOCA
48 – Ollie Jackson – Welch Motorsport – Proton Gen-2 – Welch/Proton-M
12 – Daniel Welch – Welch Motorsport – Proton Gen-2 – Welch/Proton-M
43 – Lea Wood – JWT Performance – Toyota Avensis – Swindon/TOCA
17 – Dave Newsham – AmD Tuning – Ford Focus ST – Mountune/Ford
67 – Robb Holland – Rotek Racing – Audi S3 Saloon – Swindon/TOCA
28 – Chris Stockton – BTC Racing – Chevrolet Cruze Hatchback – Swindon/TOCA
16 – Aiden Moffat – Aiden Moffat Racing – Chevrolet Cruze Saloon – Swindon/TOCA
20 – James Cole – United Autosports – Toyota Avensis – Xctechr/Toyota
23 – Luke Hines – United Autosports – Toyota Avensis – Xctechr/Toyota

SUCCESS BALLAST

Driver – Ballast
Colin Turkington +45kg
Jason Plato +36kg
Gordon Shedden +27kg
Andrew Jordan +18kg
Rob Collard +9kg

TIMETABLE (ALL TIMES BST)

Saturday
Free Practice 1: 10:00-10:40
Free Practice 2: 12:40-13:20
Qualifying: 15:35-16:05

Sunday
Race 1: 11:32 (15 Laps)
Race 2: 14:22 (15 Laps)
Race 3: 17:09 (15 Laps)