Photo: PSP Images

Stewart Whyte takes Brands Hatch victory

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Stewart Whyte was the pick of the field at the Brands Hatch Indy circuit as he eased his Honda Accord to the top step of the podium.

The Scot started the race from third on the grid, but quickly manoeuvred himself in to second off the line, following pole sitter Patrick Watts through the first few corners before the Peugeot started to pull out a gap.

Once Whyte had got his car up to optimal temperature he began to reel in the Peugeot with a number of fastest laps in the process, eventually making his way past Watts, who started to struggle with a slipping clutch, and streaking away at the head of the field.

“After getting pole in the wet on Saturday, it seems a long time ago now, and having a good start to the race and basically we’ve had to do it all over again to try and get the two wins,” Whyte told TouringCarTimes.”Well we’ve got one, we’ve got to try and get another to keep ahead in the points.

“In qualifying we tried putting scrubbed [tyres] on the rear, we should’ve really put the four new ones on, we put the new ones on the back for that race and it did help. The tyres are worn now, but we’ll see if we can get full points in race two, I hope we can.”

Meanwhile, Tom Gladdis had John Cleland in his mirrors for the first half of the race, but the two-time BTCC champion could not match the pace of the Honda. Third place was handed to Cleland, however, when a puncture ended Gladdis’ race early.

Further back, the start of the race saw yet another enthralling battle between Harry Whale and Mark Smith, although this time Andy Wolfe joined the party in his Opel Astra. Unfortunately Mark Smith began to encounter mechanical issues of his own and dropped back down the order, eventually coming home behind Jon Finnemore, who had to start from the back of the grid after failing to get his Honda Accord going off the line.

Finally Tony Absolom and Ric Wood rounded out the finishers, with Craig Davies, Mark Wright, Alan Strachan and Darren Fielding joining Gladdis in the list of non-finishers.