Outgoing British Touring Car Champion Ash Sutton signed off in style by winning the final round of the 2018 season by a mere 0.032 seconds in a near dead-heat with Josh Cook.
Pole-sitter Cook lost out to a brave move on the outside of Paddock Hill Bend at the start from Rob Austin’s Alfa Romeo Giulietta, but re-took the lead at the same corner five laps later.
A move by Sutton on Tom Chilton’s Motorbase Ford into Westfield put him in a prime position to capitalise on the pair’s squabble, under-cutting Austin into Hawthorn to take second.
Though Cook put up a robust defence of his hard-earned lead until the last, the Subaru Levorg GT got a better run through Clearways on the final lap and out-dragged the Vauxhall Astra to the chequered flag – Sutton’s sixth win of the campaign.
Austin eventually rounded out the rostrum after fending off the advances of Chilton on the final tour of the 2.4 mile Grand Prix loop, with championship runner-up Tom Ingram in fifth.
At one stage Sam Tordoff’s striking GardX-backed Ford was the quickest machine on circuit, but he had to settle for sixth ahead of Cook’s team-mate Senna Proctor and the leading BTC Norlin Honda of Chris Smiley.
Andrew Jordan was the leading BMW in ninth, with Ricky Collard rounding out a string of outings in the UK’s most competitive tin-top series in 13th.
Their team mate and now-reigning Champion Colin Turkington ended the campaign in 23rd.
Collard was bested by Adam Morgan’s Mercedes A-Class in 11th and the AmD Audi S3 of Ollie Jackson, but ahead of James Cole and Mike Bushell.
Strong campaigns for Jack Goff and Matt Neal ended in 18th and 21st respectively, with Jason Plato curtailing his fourth campaign with Team BMR in 26th.
The 2019 British Touring Car Championship gets underway once again at Brands Hatch (Indy) over the weekend of 07-08 April, 2019.
Race result
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 1 | M | Ashley SUTTON |  |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 15 | 23:18.405 | 1:31.582 | 3 |
| 2 | 66 | M | Josh COOK | |
Power Maxed TAG Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 15 | 0.032 | 1:32.084 | 1 |
| 3 | 11 | Rob AUSTIN | |
DUO Motorsport with HMS Racing | Alfa Romeo Giulietta | 15 | 0.738 | 1:32.333 | 2 | |
| 4 | 3 | Tom CHILTON | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher | Ford Focus RS | 15 | 1.100 | 1:32.142 | 5 | |
| 5 | 80 | Tom INGRAM | |
Speedworks Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 15 | 1.662 | 1:31.668 | 7 | |
| 6 | 600 | Sam TORDOFF | |
Team GardX Racing with Motorbase | Ford Focus RS | 15 | 1.839 | 1:31.319 | 14 | |
| 7 | 18 | M | Senna PROCTOR | |
Power Maxed TAG Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 15 | 2.286 | 1:32.023 | 4 |
| 8 | 22 | Chris SMILEY | |
BTC Norlin Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 15 | 2.550 | 1:31.562 | 12 | |
| 9 | 77 | M | Andrew JORDAN | |
BMW Pirtek Racing | BMW 125i M Sport | 15 | 3.065 | 1:32.073 | 8 |
| 10 | 26 | Daniel LLOYD | |
BTC Norlin Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 15 | 3.689 | 1:31.708 | 13 | |
| 11 | 33 | Adam MORGAN | |
MAC Tools with Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 15 | 8.300 | 1:32.227 | 23 | |
| 12 | 48 | Ollie JACKSON | |
AmD with Cobra Exhausts | Audi S3 | 15 | 11.912 | 1:32.445 | 15 | |
| 13 | 55 | M | Ricky COLLARD | |
Team BMW | BMW 125i M Sport | 15 | 12.054 | 1:32.358 | 18 |
| 14 | 20 | James COLE | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher | Ford Focus RS | 15 | 12.484 | 1:32.470 | 16 | |
| 15 | 21 | Mike BUSHELL | |
Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing | Volkswagen CC | 15 | 15.255 | 1:32.295 | 20 | |
| 16 | 39 | Brett SMITH | |
WIX Racing with Eurotech | Honda Civic Type R | 15 | 15.720 | 1:32.528 | 11 | |
| 17 | 27 | M | Dan CAMMISH | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 15 | 16.877 | 1:32.685 | 10 |
| 18 | 31 | Jack GOFF | |
WIX Racing with Eurotech | Honda Civic Type R | 15 | 17.208 | 1:32.231 | 25 | |
| 19 | 19 | Bobby THOMPSON | |
Team HARD. with Trade Price Cars | Volkswagen CC | 15 | 17.509 | 1:32.422 | 30 | |
| 20 | 15 | Tom OLIPHANT | |
Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 15 | 18.112 | 1:32.116 | 24 | |
| 21 | 25 | M | Matt NEAL | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 15 | 18.457 | 1:32.642 | 9 |
| 22 | 303 | Matt SIMPSON | |
Simpson Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 15 | 19.210 | 1:32.559 | 27 | |
| 23 | 2 | M | Colin TURKINGTON | |
Team BMW | BMW 125i M Sport | 15 | 19.417 | 1:32.099 | 22 |
| 24 | 6 | Rory BUTCHER | |
AmD with AutoAid / RCIB Insurance Racing | MG 6 | 15 | 19.616 | 1:32.415 | 28 | |
| 25 | 99 | M | Jason PLATO | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 15 | 19.845 | 1:32.797 | 17 |
| 26 | 23 | Sam SMELT | |
AmD with Cobra Exhausts | Audi S3 | 15 | 20.112 | 1:32.390 | 19 | |
| 27 | 16 | Aiden MOFFAT | |
Laser Tools Racing | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 15 | 1:22.927 | 1:31.661 | 6 | |
| R | 32 | Ethan HAMMERTON | |
Team HARD. with Trade Price Cars | Volkswagen CC | 4 | DNF | 1:33.838 | 29 | |
| R | 60 | Stephen JELLEY | |
Team Parker Racing | BMW 125i M Sport | 3 | DNF | 1:33.928 | 26 | |
| R | 54 | Josh CAYGILL | |
AmD with AutoAid / RCIB Insurance Racing | MG 6 | 3 | DNF | 1:35.223 | 21 | |
| NS | 43 | Ollie PIDGLEY | |
Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing | Volkswagen CC | – | DNS | N/A | 31 |
