Halfords Yuasa Racing's Dan Cammish became the 17th different race winner in the 2018 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship after the Honda rookie got the better of pole-sitter Brett Smith in the opening contest at Brands Hatch. Cammish's Honda team-mate Matt Neal also nipped by Smith shortly after mid-distance to complete a one-two for the manufacturer-backed squad. Smith held on for a first BTCC podium, albeit under pressure from his WIX Racing with Eurotech team-mate Jack Goff. In a race that simmered without reaching boiling point it was the overall championship battle that many had their eyes on. Both Colin Turkington and Tom Ingram made steady progress from relatively low grid positions, but it was the BMW man that extended his points advantage to 36 with a 12th place finish.  Tom Chilton's title challenge is now mathematically over but his ninth place result boosted his and Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher's chances of Independents' laurels. With Honda machinary dominating the top four positions it was Power Maxed TAG Racing's Senna Proctor who proved to be the best of the rest. Young talent Proctor performed well during qualifying yesterday and the Vauxhall man saw off Daniel Lloyd early in this encounter before latching onto the back of the Hondas. He was never quite close enough to make an attack but fifth place was still a decent reward for the Yorkshireman. BTC Norlin Racing's Lloyd took sixth ahead of the charging Aiden Moffat in the Laser Tools Racing Mercedes. BMW Pirtek Racing's Andrew Jordan was eighth after he made a stellar move by Sam Tordoff's Ford, whilst Chilton headed his Motorbase team-mate James Cole to complete the top ten positions.  There were a couple of minor incidents on the opening lap – one involving two Team HARD VWs – with the most notable however, being that for reigning champion Ash Sutton. It's not yet clear what happened but the Adrian Flux Subaru Racing star ran wide and into the gravel through Druids on the first tour and he retired in the pits soon after. Back to the title battle and it is all still to play for with just two races remaining in the 2018 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship. Turkington's 34 point advantage over Ingram however, means the latter must make some serious inroads in the next race, which will take place at 1440.
Dan Cammish said: "What a great day, I’m really proud of the guys and the team. The fact Matt (Neal) was second shows how much potential we’ve had. To get my first win is just great – what a fantastic moment. There’s not a better place than Brands Hatch to do it, and in the sun too. The plan was to formation fly around the end of the race and I knew Matt would be a good wingman – it was good to have that. Matt’s a great team-mate, not only on the track but off it as well. He’s open with data and doesn’t keep anything from me. I think if I’m faster, he’s encouraged by that. Hopefully I dragged him around a little bit there too!"
 
Matt Neal said: "He’s threatened that top step all year and hopefully that’s the cork out of the bottle for him now – he drove mega. We really wanted a good result at Silverstone but it didn’t quite come our way. We wanted to do it for a key member of our team that we have lost, so that one is for you Wainy! (Mark Wain – longstanding Team Dynamics member, who sadly passed away two weeks ago)."
 
Brett Smith said: "I made hard work of it on the Option-Soft tyre but that was the best it has felt. I gifted it to Cammish at the start and I lost the rear tyres at Stirlings. Matt (Neal) was so much quicker once he got his tyres into their window and I just had to let him past. I thought that if I didn’t, Jack (Goff) would have been right with me – as it happened he was in the end anyway! I know Jack’s a committed overtaker but he wouldn’t put me or anyone else in harm’s way. I think he was looking longer than race one and he’ll be well placed now for race two."
2018 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Round 28 – Brands Hatch GP 1 Dan CAMMISH (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing 15 laps 2 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +0.368s 3 Brett SMITH (GBR) WIX Racing with Eurotech +2.753s 4 Jack GOFF (GBR) WIX Racing with Eurotech +3.362s 5 Senna PROCTOR (GBR) Power Maxed TAG Racing +3.922s 6 Dan LLOYD (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +8.102s 7 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +9.218s 8 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) BMW Pirtek Racing +9.428s 9 Tom CHILTON (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher +12.421s 10 James COLE (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher +12.632s 11 Sam TORDOFF (GBR) Team GardX Racing with Motorbase +13.237s 12 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +13.460s 13 Tom OLIPHANT (GBR) Ciceley Motorsport +13.612s 14 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +13.794s 15 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) DUO Motorsport with HMS Racing +14.059s 16 Ricky COLLARD (GBR) Team BMW +18.686s 17 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmD with Cobra Exhausts +19.840s 18 Jason PLATO (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +20.268s 19 Adam MORGAN (GBR) Mac Tools with Ciceley Motorsport +20.846s 20 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Simpson Racing +21.468s 21 Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team Parker Racing +22.454s 22 Josh COOK (GBR) Power Maxed TAG Racing +22.483s 23 Rory BUTCHER (GBR) AmD with AutoAid/RCIB Insurance Racing +22.861s 24 Mike BUSHELL (GBR) Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing +30.865s 25 Sam SMELT (GBR) AmD with Cobra Exhausts +34.370s 26 Josh CAYGILL (GBR) AmD with AutoAid/RCIB Insurance Racing +35.070s 27 Ollie PIDGLEY (GBR) Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing +35.608s 28 Chris SMILEY (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +2 laps 29 Ethan HAMMERTON (GBR) Team HARD with Trade Price Cars +1 laps 30 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +15 laps 31 Bobby THOMPSON (GBR) Team HARD with Trade Price Cars +15 laps