Newly crowned champion Ash Sutton ended his season in fine style and took the victory in round 30 of the British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch.
Sutton, driving the Laser Tools Racing Infiniti, had started the race in fourth but quickly found himself in second by the end of the opening lap after overtaking both Daniel Rowbottom and Tom Chilton.
The three time BTCC champion then grabbed the lead ahead of pole sitter Stephen Jelley on the exit of Clark Curve on lap three and didn’t look back, despite the best efforts of Rowbottom in the Halfords Racing with Cataclean Honda, who eventually ended the race second after being unable to match the pace of Sutton.
Race three of the day saw several drivers move themselves up through the field. This included Tom Ingram, who had started 12th, and he eventually ended the race third in the ballast free Hyundai.
Ingram could have also finished higher, had it not been for a fine defensive drive by Rowbottom ahead in the second half of the race.
Fourth in the final race of the year went to MB Motorsport with Blue Square’s Jake Hill, who managed to get ahead of Josh Cook while the pair both attempted to overtake Tom Chilton on lap 11.
Cook, who had earlier in the day won the first two races, moved up through the field as like Hill and Ingram ahead following the reverse grid draw and eventually ends the championship in third place – just three points behind Colin Turkington.
Team BMW driver Turkington was forced to retire on just the second lap after suspension damage following contact with Chilton at the Druids hairpin, meaning Cook closed up the gap for P2 in the Drivers Standings.
The aforementioned Chilton ended round 30 in sixth having earlier lined up on the front of the grid, with Gordon Shedden getting the better of Jack Goff for seventh.
The Team Dynamics and Team HARD. Drivers had an interesting battle throughout the race, but it was the Honda man who came out on top.
Rory Butcher in the Toyota GAZOO Racing Corolla finished round 30 in ninth with Jason Plato, who earlier in the day had to undergo an engine change in the Power Maxed Vauxhall, recovering to a solid tenth place finish in race three of the day.
Race three polesitter Stephen Jelley ended the race down in 24th after colliding with Jake Hill at the exit of Surtees on lap 10 that saw him spin out of contention for a strong result.
Race result
| POS | NO | CL | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 1 | I |  |
Ashley SUTTON | Laser Tools Racing | Infiniti Q50 | 18 | 30:22.671 | 1:31.583 | 4 |
| 2 | 32 | I | |
Daniel ROWBOTTOM | Halfords Racing with Cataclean | Honda Civic Type-R | 18 | 1.369 | 1:31.574 | 5 |
| 3 | 80 | I | |
Tom INGRAM | Ginsters EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com | Hyundai i30 Fastback N | 18 | 1.502 | 1:31.690 | 12 |
| 4 | 24 | M | |
Jake HILL | MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square | Ford Focus ST | 18 | 3.274 | 1:31.553 | 10 |
| 5 | 66 | I | |
Josh COOK | BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type-R | 18 | 8.001 | 1:32.279 | 9 |
| 6 | 3 | I | |
Tom CHILTON | Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport | BMW 330i M Sport | 18 | 8.960 | 1:32.209 | 2 |
| 7 | 52 | I | |
Gordon SHEDDEN | Halfords Racing with Cataclean | Honda Civic Type-R | 18 | 9.682 | 1:32.405 | 7 |
| 8 | 31 | I | |
Jack GOFF | Team HARD. with Autobrite Direct | CUPRA Leon | 18 | 10.043 | 1:32.335 | 11 |
| 9 | 6 | M | |
Rory BUTCHER | Toyota Gazoo Racing UK | Toyota Corolla GR Sport | 18 | 11.992 | 1:32.183 | 3 |
| 10 | 11 | I | |
Jason PLATO | Adrian Flux with Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 18 | 13.002 | 1:32.492 | 18 |
| 11 | 48 | M | |
Ollie JACKSON | MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square | Ford Focus ST | 18 | 14.806 | 1:32.256 | 27 |
| 12 | 22 | I | |
Chris SMILEY | Ginsters EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com | Hyundai i30 Fastback N | 18 | 15.345 | 1:32.465 | 24 |
| 13 | 123 | I | |
Daniel LLOYD | Adrian Flux with Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 18 | 15.962 | 1:32.631 | 8 |
| 14 | 40 | I |  |
Árón TAYLOR-SMITH | Team HARD. with HUB Financial Solutions | CUPRA Leon | 18 | 17.214 | 1:32.292 | 20 |
| 15 | 15 | M | |
Tom OLIPHANT | Team BMW | BMW 330i M Sport | 18 | 17.461 | 1:32.164 | 28 |
| 16 | 33 | I | |
Adam MORGAN | Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport | BMW 330i M Sport | 18 | 17.697 | 1:32.245 | 29 |
| 17 | 4 | M | |
Sam OSBORNE | Racing with Wera & Photon Group | Ford Focus ST | 18 | 19.176 | 1:32.668 | 14 |
| 18 | 16 | I | |
Aiden MOFFAT | Laser Tools Racing | Infiniti Q50 | 18 | 19.397 | 1:32.321 | 22 |
| 19 | 18 | I | |
Senna PROCTOR | BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type-R | 18 | 20.545 | 1:32.200 | 26 |
| 20 | 99 | I | |
Jade EDWARDS | PHSC with BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type-R | 18 | 21.143 | 1:32.558 | 16 |
| 21 | 23 | M | |
Sam SMELT | Toyota Gazoo Racing UK | Toyota Corolla GR Sport | 18 | 21.462 | 1:32.747 | 13 |
| 22 | 44 | M | |
Andy NEATE | Racing with Wera & Photon Group | Ford Focus ST | 18 | 31.965 | 1:33.484 | 25 |
| 23 | 28 | I | |
Nicolas HAMILTON | ROKiT Racing with iQuoto Online Trading | CUPRA Leon | 18 | 32.503 | 1:33.841 | 23 |
| 24 | 12 | M | |
Stephen JELLEY | Team BMW | BMW 330i M Sport | 18 | 42.127 | 1:32.295 | 1 |
| 25 | 55 | I | |
Andy WILMOT | EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com | Hyundai i30 Fastback N | 17 | + 1 LAP | 1:33.811 | 19 |
| R | 19 | I | |
Jack MITCHELL | Team HARD. with Autobrite Direct | CUPRA Leon | 4 | DNF | 1:32.871 | 17 |
| R | 2 | M | |
Colin TURKINGTON | Team BMW | BMW 330i M Sport | 1 | DNF | 1:41.264 | 6 |
| R | 41 | I | |
Carl BOARDLEY | Laser Tools Racing | Infiniti Q50 | 0 | DNF | N/A | 15 |
| R | 62 | I | |
Rick PARFITT Jr | EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com | Hyundai i30 Fastback N | 0 | DNF | N/A | 21 |