Ash Sutton has claimed his maiden British Touring Car Championship title in the final race of the season at Brands Hatch, as rival Colin Turkington retired with suspension damage early in the race.
Although Turkington got off to a stronger start than his rival, things came to a sudden halt on the second lap of the race when the BMW driver picked up damage to the right-rear suspension on his 1-Series.
The incident was triggered when Speedworks Motorsport’s Tom Ingram made slight contact with Motorbase’s Mat Jackson heading into Turn 3, with the Ford Focus sliding wide off the circuit as a result.
As Jackson re-joined the circuit, he made contact with the right-rear wheel of Turkington’s car in an unfortunate case of ‘wrong place, wrong time’ for the Northern Irishman.
Turkington retired to the pits and out of the race, meaning that irrespective of Sutton’s finishing position the Subaru star will claim a maiden BTCC title in only his second season in the championship.