Josh Cook victorious in BTCC season finale

Toyota’s Josh Cook took a confident victory in the final British Touring Car Championship race of the season at Brands Hatch, after passing reverse grid pole-sitter Aiden Moffat on the fourth lap.

WSR’s Moffat started on pole and made a good start, as Laser Tools Racing’s Jake Hill, in his last BTCC race, got a good launch to vault Cook into second.

However, Hill only managed the opening lap in second as Cook dived inside the BMW at Druids on the second lap, with Hill then losing out to NAPA Racing UK’s Ash Sutton at Surtees moments later.

The safety car was needed at the end of lap four when NAPA team-mates Daniel Rowbottom and Dan Cammish came together on the run up to Druids; Cammish had tried to go inside at Paddock Hill Bend and held a tight line, which Rowbottom came over to defend, but with Cammish already alongside the pair made contact, breaking Cammish’s front-left suspension and sending him spinning across the circuit.

Just before the safety car was deployed, Cook managed to pass Moffat for the lead into Surtees, before the pack had to slow.

After three laps behind the safety car racing resumed, but Cook kept clear at the front. Sutton, meanwhile, passed Moffat for second at Druids on the restart lap, with Hill trying to follow.

However, Moffat ran Hill wide out of Surtees, which almost cost the Laser Tools Racing driver more positions.

Undeterred, Hill tried again into Graham Hill Bend on the following lap and secured third, as Moffat had to fend off a challenge from Gordon Shedden for fourth.

Cook ultimately won by a second from Sutton, whose result aided NAPA Racing UK to secure the Teams’ championship.

Hill completed the podium in his final BTCC race before moving on to international GT racing.

Toyota’s Shedden claimed fourth from Moffat on the penultimate lap, leaving Moffat to take the chequered flag in fifth, equalling his best result of the season.

New champion Tom Ingram was sixth and the leading Team Vertu driver, giving the EXCELR8 Motorsport-run squad the Manufacturers’ title.

Adam Morgan followed his team-mate home in seventh, with both drivers getting past NAPA’s Rowbottom three laps from the finish.

Rowbottom was eighth in what is rumoured to be his final race with the team, with the top ten completed by Team Vertu’s Senna Proctor and NAPA’s Sam Osborne.

Un-Limited Motorsport’s Dexter Patterson won the Independents’ category for only the second time this year, but the Independents’ title went to Daniel Lloyd, who finished down in 18^th.

Lloyd had been stuck behind Power Maxed Racing’s Mikey Doble late in the race, with the Restart Racing driver racing cautiously and not making a risky move on Doble, which ultimately resulted in him losing positions to Nicolas Hamilton and Max Buxton late in the race but nonetheless having just enough points to win by four points over Doble.

Technical issues curtailed two drivers early in the race – Tom Chilton pulled off after just three laps, whilst Toyota’s Árón Taylor-Smith slowed on lap ten whilst running in 14^th.

Race result

POS	NO	CL	NAT	DRIVER	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	BEST	GD
1	66	M		Josh COOK	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	18	29:07.334	1:29.815	2
2	116	M		Ashley SUTTON	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	18	1.043	1:29.632	8
3	1	M		Jake HILL	Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport	BMW 330i M Sport	18	2.834	1:29.896	3
4	52	M		Gordon SHEDDEN	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	18	13.542	1:30.873	6
5	16	M		Aiden MOFFAT	LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR	BMW 330i M Sport	18	14.750	1:30.211	1
6	80	M		Tom INGRAM	Team Vertu	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	18	14.874	1:30.817	9
7	33	M		Adam MORGAN	Team Vertu	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	18	15.234	1:30.980	10
8	32	M		Daniel ROWBOTTOM	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	18	16.638	1:31.002	4
9	18	M		Senna PROCTOR	Team Vertu	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	18	17.360	1:31.094	7
10	77	M		Sam OSBORNE	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	18	20.031	1:31.297	12
11	17	I		Dexter PATTERSON	ROKiT Racing with Un-Limited Motorsport	CUPRA Leon	18	20.608	1:30.924	16
12	99	M		Charles RAINFORD	LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR	BMW 330i M Sport	18	20.635	1:30.837	22
13	22	I		Chris SMILEY	Restart Racing	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	18	23.165	1:31.084	11
14	2	M		Daryl DELEON	WSR	BMW 330i M Sport	18	23.941	1:30.844	13
15	88	I		Mikey DOBLE	Motor Parts Direct with Power Maxed Racing	CUPRA Leon	18	34.698	1:31.509	14
16	19	M		Max BUXTON	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	18	35.109	1:31.451	17
17	28	I		Nicolas HAMILTON	Powder Monkey Brewing Co with Esidock	CUPRA Leon	18	35.577	1:31.846	19
18	123	I		Daniel LLOYD	Restart Racing	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	18	36.738	1:31.434	15
19	50	I		Nick HALSTEAD	Motor Parts Direct with Power Maxed Racing	CUPRA Leon	18	50.251	1:32.740	18
R	40	M		Árón TAYLOR-SMITH	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	9	DNF	1:31.116	21
R	27	M		Dan CAMMISH	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	3	DNF	1:30.684	5
R	3	M		Tom CHILTON	Team Vertu	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	3	DNF	1:31.503	20