Charles Rainford completed a WSR clean sweep of victories in the British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch, winning race three ahead of stable-mate Jake Hill.
NAPA Racing UK’s Daniel Rowbottom started from pole position after the top nine were reversed from race two, and when the lights went out the Ford driver held his advantage, as Rainford jumped Hill for second.
Rainford then seized the lead from Rowbottom going into Paddock Hill bend at the start of the second lap, the duo making slight contact in the process.
Rowbottom kept Hill at bay until the ninth lap, after which point the reigning champion set about closing in on Rainford. Two laps later, the Laser Tools Racing BMW driver had cut the deficit by half a second and was on the bumper of Rainford, but after several laps of pushing, he couldn’t get past his rookie team-mate.
After Team Vertu’s Tom Ingram, who had gained four places on the opening lap alone, moved into third on lap 14, he began to close in on Hill, with the duo running nose-to-tail in the closing laps.
Ingram tried several times to pass Hill, including pushing him through Druids and going around the outside at Paddock Hill on the final lap, but Hill prevailed in second. The battling in turn allowed Rainford to claim a maiden victory by almost two seconds, giving WSR all three wins in a day for the first time since 2015.
Ingram scored his fifth podium from six starts in third, whilst Ash Sutton claimed fourth to ensure he maintained the championship lead leaving Kent, despite seeming to struggle for pace in the race from seventh on the grid.
Restart Racing’s Chris Smiley was the leading Independent in fifth, having passed Rowbottom for what was then fourth on lap 20 before Sutton took the place off him a lap later at Paddock Hill Bend.
Rowbottom fell down the order further in the closing laps, allowing One Motorsport’s Josh Cook to take sixth ahead of Team Vertu’s Tom Chilton in seventh.
WSR’s Aiden Moffat was eighth in a bruising race for the BMW driver, whilst Rowbottom took the finish in ninth ahead of the leading Toyota of Gordon Shedden in tenth.
The only retirement of the race was Un-Limited Motorsport’s Max Hall, who ended the race in the gravel at Clark Curve after picking up a front-left puncture.
Sutton continues to lead the drivers’ championship standings with 92 points ahead of Ingram (87), Hill (80), Chilton (55) and Morgan (52).
Race result
| POS | NO | CL | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 99 | M |  |
Charles RAINFORD | LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR | BMW 330i M Sport | 24 | 19:18.227 | 47.347 | 3 |
| 2 | 1 | M | |
Jake HILL | Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport | BMW 330i M Sport | 24 | 1.983 | 47.370 | 2 |
| 3 | 80 | M | |
Tom INGRAM | Team Vertu | Hyundai i30 N Fastback | 24 | 2.374 | 47.157 | 11 |
| 4 | 100 | M | |
Ashley SUTTON | NAPA Racing UK | Ford Focus ST | 24 | 7.518 | 47.845 | 7 |
| 5 | 22 | I | |
Chris SMILEY | Restart Racing | Hyundai i30 N Fastback | 24 | 9.194 | 47.529 | 6 |
| 6 | 66 | I | |
Josh COOK | One Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R | 24 | 9.793 | 47.488 | 4 |
| 7 | 3 | M | |
Tom CHILTON | Team Vertu | Hyundai i30 N Fastback | 24 | 9.978 | 47.957 | 12 |
| 8 | 16 | M | |
Aiden MOFFAT | LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR | BMW 330i M Sport | 24 | 10.630 | 47.647 | 5 |
| 9 | 32 | M | |
Daniel ROWBOTTOM | NAPA Racing UK | Ford Focus ST | 24 | 12.877 | 47.486 | 1 |
| 10 | 52 | M | |
Gordon SHEDDEN | TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA | Toyota Corolla GR Sport | 24 | 13.556 | 47.690 | 16 |
| 11 | 132 | M | |
James DORLIN | TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA | Toyota Corolla GR Sport | 24 | 16.998 | 47.947 | 18 |
| 12 | 33 | M | |
Adam MORGAN | Team Vertu | Hyundai i30 N Fastback | 24 | 19.552 | 48.123 | 8 |
| 13 | 2 | M |  |
Daryl DELEON | WSR | BMW 330i M Sport | 24 | 20.138 | 48.349 | 9 |
| 14 | 27 | M | |
Dan CAMMISH | NAPA Racing UK | Ford Focus ST | 24 | 21.236 | 47.983 | 23 |
| 15 | 40 | M |  |
Árón TAYLOR-SMITH | TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA | Toyota Corolla GR Sport | 24 | 25.580 | 48.026 | 15 |
| 16 | 777 | M | |
Michael CREES | Team Vertu | Hyundai i30 N Fastback | 24 | 27.829 | 48.494 | 14 |
| 17 | 14 | M | |
Ronan PEARSON | TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA | Toyota Corolla GR Sport | 24 | 29.939 | 48.527 | 10 |
| 18 | 77 | M | |
Sam OSBORNE | NAPA Racing UK | Ford Focus ST | 24 | 29.984 | 48.675 | 17 |
| 19 | 12 | I | |
Stephen JELLEY | One Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R | 24 | 30.626 | 48.469 | 13 |
| 20 | 88 | I | |
Mikey DOBLE | Motor Parts Direct with Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 24 | 31.442 | 48.483 | 22 |
| 21 | 17 | I | |
Dexter PATTERSON | ROKiT Racing with Un-Limited Motorsport | CUPRA Leon | 24 | 31.772 | 47.606 | 25 |
| 22 | 123 | I | |
Daniel LLOYD | Restart Racing | Hyundai i30 N Fastback | 24 | 32.470 | 48.474 | 21 |
| 23 | 28 | I | |
Nicolas HAMILTON | Powder Monkey Brewing Co with Esidock | CUPRA Leon | 24 | 35.679 | 48.472 | 19 |
| 24 | 50 | I | |
Nick HALSTEAD | Motor Parts Direct with Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 21 | + 3 LAPS | 49.456 | 20 |
| R | 93 | I | |
Max HALL | ROKiT Racing with Un-Limited Motorsport | CUPRA Leon | 18 | DNF | 48.072 | 24 |