BTC Racing's Josh Cook doubled up with his second win of the day at Brands Hatch, while Laser Tools Racing's Ash Sutton secured enough points to provisionally claim to 2021 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship Drivers' title.
Cook claimed a lights-to-flag triumph, while his team-mate Senna Proctor's challenge ended in the gravel at Druids Hairpin on lap one, whilst a storming opening tour from Adrian Flux with Power Maxed Racing's Daniel Lloyd pushed him into second.
Halfords Racing with Cataclean's Gordon Shedden grabbed his second podium of the day with third, ahead of Colin Turkington's Team BMW machine, and the other Team Dynamics-run Honda of Daniel Rowbottom.
A top six finish for Sutton was enough for the Infiniti Q50 man to become a three-time BTCC champion, which the 27-year-old emotionally celebrated during the slow down lap and in parc ferme.
The manufacturer-backed Toyota of Rory Butcher was next in the order, ahead of the two BMWs of Tom Chilton and Stephen Jelley, whilst Jake Hill rounded out the top ten in his MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square Ford.
Chilton and Hill were amongst some early skirmishes, which first involved the latter's Ford being pushed wide through Druids. Then it was Chilton's turn as he nudged his way up the inside of Ollie Jackson's MB Motorsport-run car at Surtees, which caused a ripple effect that took out Team BMW's Tom Oliphant and Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport's Adam Morgan.
A number of further minor incidents happened throughout the order, but it was all eyes on Sutton as his #1 Infiniti crossed the line to retain his title.
Ash Sutton said: "I was saying to the guys on the in lap, we’ve worked so hard and changed how we approach a year and it’s paid off massively. To do it with one race to spare is absolutely phenomenal. I’ve had a fantastic crew behind me all year, and fantastic sponsors with Laser Tools and it just couldn’t have been any better.
"We’re just one step closer to where we want to be. I want to go down as one of the greats of the championship and so if it means that we’ve got to go after the championships then we’re going to do it."
Josh Cook said: "Ash [Sutton] stole my thunder as always. But this is mega for the team. Obviously congrats to Ash and all the guys at [Laser Tools Racing]. They’ve done a great job and fully deserve it. But for us, it’s great to finish the year how we started it and we just proved that the car’s really good, even with weight in it. I’m mega happy. It definitely wasn’t easy – Dan [Lloyd] kept me on my toes! So well done to that team as they’ve got that car moving."
Dan Lloyd said: "I loved that! It was amazing. The team did a great job between races one and two, making [the car] even better. Obviously, I’m still new to carrying weight in the car so I didn’t really know what to expect, but even on the out lap I said to my engineer ‘this feels good this does!’ I just wanted to come here and have a really solid weekend. And with a fourth and a second, I’m so, so happy. Grateful to Adam [Weaver] and all the boys for the opportunity. I don’t know if I’ll be on the podium in race three, but I don’t really care to be honest – I’ve had a good day!"
Gordon Shedden said: "It’s fantastic, two podiums today and another race to go. Today’s about Ash Sutton winning that championship, you can see the joy on the faces of everyone in the team. He’s done a fantastic job this year and set the bar high. But we’ve just got to attack them next year and see how we get on. But congratulations to those guys!"
2021 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Race 2 – Brands Hatch GP
1 Josh COOK (GBR) BTC Racing 18 laps
2 Daniel LLOYD (GBR) Adrian Flux with Power Maxed Racing +0.587s
3 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Racing with Cataclean +1.432s
4 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +1.745s
5 Daniel ROWBOTTOM (GBR) Halfords Racing with Cataclean +2.352s
6 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +3.169s
7 Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Toyota Gazoo Racing UK +4.073s
8 Tom CHILTON (GBR) Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport +4.333s
9 Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team BMW +4.805s
10 Jake HILL (GBR) MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square +5.706s
11 Jack GOFF (GBR) Team HARD. with Autobrite Direct +6.809s
12 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Ginsters EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com +6.924s
13 Sam SMELT (GBR) Toyota Gazoo Racing UK +7.358s
14 Sam OSBORNE (GBR) Racing with Wera & Photon Group +7.903s
15 Carl BOARDLEY (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +8.533s
16 Jade EDWARDS (GBR) PHSC with BTC Racing +11.243s
17 Jack MITCHELL (GBR) Team HARD. with Autobrite Direct +12.094s
18 Jason PLATO (GBR) Adrian Flux with Power Maxed Racing +12.246s
19 Andy WILMOT (GBR) EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com +15.083s
20 Árón TAYLOR-SMITH (IRL) Team HARD. with HUB Financial Solutions +59.263s
21 Rick PARFITT (GBR) EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com +1 lap
22 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +1 lap
23 Nicolas HAMILTON (GBR) ROKiT Racing with iQuoto Online Trading +7 laps
24 Chris SMILEY (GBR) Ginsters EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com +12 laps
25 Andy NEATE (GBR) Racing with Wera & Photon Group +13 laps
26 Senna PROCTOR (GBR) BTC Racing +18 laps
27 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square +18 laps
28 Tom OLIPHANT (GBR) Team BMW +18 laps
29 Adam MORGAN (GBR) Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport +18 laps
