Mat Jackson doubles up in chaotic Brands race two

Motorbase’s Mat Jackson kept out of trouble to secure a second successive British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) victory at Brands Hatch, ahead of Speedworks Motorsport’s Tom Ingram and Ciceley Motorsport’s Adam Morgan.

The 34-year-old was able to take advantage of the battle between the pair behind him to take his fourth win of the season, despite carrying maximum success ballast following his earlier race one win.

The chaos unfolded behind Jackson, as Árón Smith lost out on places on the opening lap after battling with Dave Newsham and Adam Morgan, having started on the front row.

Dextra Racing’s Alex Martin rejoined in his Ford Focus in the latter stages, with Laser Tools Racing’s Aiden Moffatt making several trips to the pit lane with technical issues.

Later around the opening lap Eurotech’s Martin Depper lost the back end of his Honda Civic into Clearways, giving Rob Austin nowhere to go, with both cars retiring as a result after Austin ploughed into the side of the Civic.

Paras Racing’s Derek Palmer also ended up in the gravel on the same lap, leaving the front of his Infiniti looking worse for wear, especially after a failed tow rope kept the Safety Car out for longer than usual.

Power Maxed Racing’s Dave Newsham would take fourth place, despite having dropped multiple places down the order initially. He was ahead of MG Racing’s Jack Goff, with title contender Jason Plato from Team BMR sixth.

Points leader Gordon Shedden would eventually end up 20th after 18 laps, as the Scot would progressively drop down the order, reporting a lack of power during the race. He also went wide at Hawthorns on lap 14, losing several places as a result when running in the final points position at the time.

His Honda Yuasa Racing team mate Matt Neal would finish seventh, after battling hard with Árón Smith for a number of laps, before forcing his way past. The Irishman finished ahead of Andy Priaulx, who was the best placed of the BMWs in ninth, ahead of WSR team-mate Rob Collard.

Colin Turkington’s title defence came to an abrupt end on the penultimate lap, as the Ulsterman’s Volkswagen CC suffered a left front puncture, forcing him to pull to the side of the track.

There was also a retirement for Dan Welch, who pulled his Proton to the side of the track on lap ten with apparent mechanical problems.

The final race sees just 12 points between Shedden and Plato for the title, with the final race of the season starting at 17.09 local time.

Points scoring result

POS	NO	CL	DRIVER	NAT	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME/GAP	BEST	GD
1	4		Mat JACKSON		Motorbase Performance	Ford Focus	18	31:04.610	1:31.982	1
2	80		Tom INGRAM		Speedworks Motorsport	Toyota Avensis	18	0.350	1:31.905	5
3	33		Adam MORGAN		WIX Racing	Mercedes Benz A-Class	18	1.460	1:31.824	3
4	17		Dave NEWSHAM		Power Maxed Racing	Chevrolet Cruze	18	2.904	1:32.028	4
5	31	M	Jack GOFF		MG 888 Racing	MG 6GT	18	3.278	1:32.144	6
6	99		Jason PLATO		Team BMR RCIB Insurance	Volkswagen CC	18	3.588	1:32.074	8
7	25	M	Matt NEAL		Honda Yuasa Racing	Honda Civic Type R	18	10.954	1:31.908	14
8	40		Árón SMITH		Team BMR RCIB Insurance	Volkswagen CC	18	12.344	1:32.203	2
9	111	C	Andy PRIAULX		Team IHG Rewards Club	BMW 125i M Sport	18	12.849	1:32.355	7
10	6	C	Rob COLLARD		Team JCT600 with GardX	BMW 125i M Sport	18	13.100	1:32.285	15
11	77	M	Andrew JORDAN		MG 888 Racing	MG 6GT	18	13.198	1:32.431	11
12	44		James COLE		Motorbase Performance	Ford Focus	18	13.675	1:32.449	18
13	7	C	Sam TORDOFF		Team JCT600 with GardX	BMW 125i M Sport	18	14.003	1:32.301	12
14	55		Jeff SMITH		Eurotech Racing	Honda Civic	18	21.288	1:33.168	10
15	9		Alain MENU		Team BMR RCIB Insurance	Volkswagen CC	18	21.415	1:32.642	28

Complete race results