Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport's Jake Hill claimed his eighth Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship victory of the season in a dramatic opening contest at Brands Hatch.

The title showdown kicked off in nail-biting fashion on the opening lap with no fewer than three of the championship contenders tangling at Druids.

Tom Ingram's Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS' Hyundai bogged down off the line and immediately had the NAPA Racing UK Ford of Ashley Sutton up the inside. Josh Cook tried to follow suit on the entry to Druids but the LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ Toyota slid luridly under braking before making contact with Sutton while also collecting Ingram. The unfortunate incident also took out Team BMW's Adam Morgan and TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK's Rob Huff.

Ingram somehow continued, but way down in ninth, whilst Sutton's title defence was in the gravel and out of the race.

In the meantime, Hill had moved into second behind stablemate Colin Turkington, which soon became first once the team orchestrated the switch following the restart.

Ingram was busy producing his own masterclass fightback drive through the order, scything his way past car-after-car. That was until he arrived on the rear bumper of Team BMW's Turkington, who then showed some of the best defensive driving we've seen in recent times.

Turkington's rear gunner brilliance was enough to allow his BMW colleague Hill to scamper clear for victory. The triumph – his eighth of 2024 – also means Hill will definitely win the title should a tie in the points occur at the end of the day, with Ingram having scored five successes this season.

Ingram's podium means it's all still to play for with five points separating what is now a head-to-head for the crown between him and Hill.

The Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing pair of Mikey Doble and Árón Taylor Smith were fourth and sixth respectively, with NAPA Racing UK's Dan Cammish wedged between them in fifth.

Daryl DeLeon's growing reputation continued with a brilliant seventh place finish for Duckhams Racing with Un-Limited Motorsport, the teenager's rise in the BTCC could be one to watch over the coming years.

NAPA Racing UK's Dan Rowbottom and Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS' Tom Chilton were next in the order, whilst Andrew Watson provided some respite for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with tenth.

The season finale continues later today with the final two races of the BTCC season, with the contests due to start at 1445 and 1735 respectively. The entire race day is being broadcast live on ITV4 whilst every race is being streamed via the ITV Sport TikTok channel.

Jake Hill, Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport, said: "What a fantastic start to the day. A huge thank you to Colin [Turkington], because he's the best team-mate I could have ever asked for, a huge thank you to WSR and Laser Tools with MB Motorsport, that's what teamwork is all about. It was just a case of managing the rear tyres, we may not have the outright pace but we had enough to get the job done. It just fills you with confidence moving forward, we start on pole now for race two, so it's going to be exciting."

Colin Turkington, Team BMW, said: "I've been in Jake's [Hill] position before and the best thing for us all this morning was just to get in the car. It was clear we had great pace from the off, so the sensible thing to do was to give Jake the best chance of winning. I can't win the championship, and of course I am BMW through and through, so I do what I can to assist. Jake drove a faultless race, once he got into the lead he didn't put a foot wrong, so it's a great start to the day."

Tom Ingram, Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS, said: "I don't really know what happened (with the accident on lap one) but it's unfortunately just one of those things. I'm alright with it, I'm absolutely fine because we've got more hybrid now than we did in the first race, so we're actually in a better position. The car is feeling really strong, it's only race one, and it's all still to play for."

Brands Hatch - Race 1 - Classification