This weekend sees the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship head back to Brands Hatch in Kent, for the final rounds of this highly competitive season.
We have already seen Brands Hatch on the BTCC calendar this year with a race on its Grand Prix circuit. This time around however, the drivers will be on the significantly shorter Indy circuit.
Thompson Misses Out
Essex-based driver Bobby Thompson will have to miss his second race weekend in a row after not fully recovering from his incident at Croft.
Thompson’s car was badly damaged, after his Audi S3 dug into the grass, which sent him flying into the air before rolling a few times.
He was able to walk away from the incident, albeit a bit dazed, but was told to miss the rounds at Snetterton by his doctor.
We still don’t know who the overall champion will be going into the weekend, so I’m sure it will be a cracking finale.
What Happened Last Time Out
Last time out, the BTCC circus was at Snetterton for rounds 22, 23 and 24 of the campaign. Colin Turkington managed to get himself into the top three of every single race over the course of the weekend.
After winning the first two races, the Northern Irishman secured a third-place finish in race three, placing one hand firmly on the title.
Tom Ingram wasn’t giving up his title challenge without a fight either and managed two second-place finishes in races one and two but finished in a measly eighth in race three.
Who Can Win The Championship?
It’s currently a five-horse battle going into the final three races of the 2020 season. Reigning champion Turkington sits pretty on top, but anything can happen come race weekend. The Team BMW driver has 309 points with his nearest competitor, Ashley Sutton in second on 300 points – just nine behind.
It is favoured that the title will go to either of those two drivers, however, Dan Cammish on 284 points and Ingram on 275 are breathing down their necks. In fifth spot is Rory Butcher, who sits on 246 points. Although the Scot can still mathematically win, he will need those around him to have a significantly bad weekend if the title was to swing in his favour.
Team BMW Look To Claim The Teams’ Title
Only two teams can get their hands on the Teams’ Championship this weekend. Team BMW are leading out in front with 513 points and are looking the strongest team, with Turkington in imperious form.
His teammate Tom Oliphant has still had his fair shares of successes but sits sixth in the overall standings.
The only team to challenge them is Halfords Yuasa Racing. Consisting of the duo of Cammish and Matt Neal, the pairing has had a consistently good season but with the drivers sitting third and 11th respectively in the championship, the odds aren’t looking in this team’s favour. They sit on 446 points, 67 points behind.
Crees And Boardley Capitalise
Michael Crees and Carl Boardley capitalised on the absent Thompson last time out in the Jack Sears Trophy to go first and second. It would have still been in reach for Thompson but unfortunately, he has to miss Brands Hatch this weekend as well. Elsewhere, Sam Osborne and Jack Butel are also still in contention, but sit 25 and 39 points behind Crees respectively.
Thompson will rue that his strongest season to date has ended this way, but he plans to come back stronger next year and compete for the Jack Sears Trophy again. Hopefully, he can have a swift recovery.
One To Be Proud Of
The season has been a difficult one, with drivers having to compete during the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. We have to credit everyone involved; from the drivers, to the engineers and mechanics who have had to work tirelessly through it all.
In the end, the season was only one event shorter than usual, an amazing feat for a championship that usually starts in April, but this year it was August.
We’ve had back-to-back races for the first time in years, we’ve also had events moved to the colder months with no spectators allowed either and a finale in November. Everyone in the sport should be proud of what they have achieved.
Watch all the action of the final BTCC round on Sunday 15 November, on ITV4.
Header image courtesy of BTCC/Jakob Ebrey
