Brands Hatch beckons for BTCC title-decider

The 2025 British Touring Car Championship title will be decided at Brands Hatch this weekend (October 4-5) with Tom Ingram and Ash Sutton set to go head-to-head for the most coveted prize in UK motorsport.

After 27 action-packed races, the battle for supremacy is poised to come down to the final three races of the season around 2.43-mile Grand Prix circuit; and it’s Ingram that sits in the pound seat holding a 33-point advantage at the summit of the standings.

Bidding to clinch his second title, the EXCELR8 Motorsport driver has been in sublime form throughout the campaign with six wins and a further 11 podiums providing the backbone to what has been a commanding championship charge.

With a maximum of 67 points on offer, Ingram is in the driving seat to secure a second crown however he will need to maintain the momentum that has got him to this point, as ready to capitalise at any moment is four-time champion Ash Sutton.

Chasing after a record-breaking fifth crown, the Alliance Racing driver is not to be counted out from producing what would be one of the all-time great comebacks. To do so, he’ll be looking to add to the five wins and 10 podiums he already has to his name this year.

The performances of both Ingram and Sutton during the season finale are set to have an impact on the destiny of both the Manufacturers’/Constructors’ and Teams’ title battles too.

Alliance Racing/Ford hold a two-point lead in the Manufacturers’/Constructors’ order over EXCELR8 Motorsport/Hyundai, whilst the same two outfits under their NAPA Racing UK and Team VERTU names are separated by three points in the Teams’ table.

While the gloves are guaranteed to come off between the top-two, the battle for third place overall is expected to go down to the wire as well with outgoing champion Jake Hill, Dan Cammish and Dan Rowbottom battling it out.

The Independent Drivers’ Championship is gearing up for a grandstand finish with just 13 points separating the three contenders. Restart Racing’s Dan Lloyd – a winner last time out at Silverstone – heads to Brands Hatch as the driver to beat, although his advantage is narrow.

Power Maxed Racing’s Mikey Doble trails Lloyd by five points while the Hyundai drivers team-mate Chris Smiley is a further eight in arrears. And with Restart Racing having secured an unassailable lead in the Independent Teams’ and Doble with nothing to lose, the fight is on.

Finally, the prestigious Jack Sears Trophy will be decided at Brands Hatch with West Surrey Racing stablemates Daryl DeLeon and Charles Rainford going up against each other. DeLeon enters the weekend holding an eight-point advantage over Rainford.

While the aforementioned contenders all fight for title honours, the remainder of the grid will be looking to end their campaigns on a high too so expect the likes of Tom Chilton, Adam Morgan, Gordon Shedden, Senna Proctor, Aron Taylor-Smith and Josh Cook to be in the mix.

Qualifying at Brands Hatch takes place at 15:15 local time/16:15 CEST on Saturday before Sunday sees three races staged; the first at 11:25, followed by race two at 14:05 and race three at 17:30.