Following on from the season opener at Donington Park, the BTCC would take the first of two trips to the famed kent circuit and unlike Donington, the weekend was sun soaked.
Rounds 4, 5 and 6 of the 2024 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship proved to be extremely successful for four-time champ Colin Turkington, as the Team BMW star took two victories and another solid points finish at Brands Hatch.
Turkington claimed pole position on Saturday before going on to secure a commanding lights-to-flag double on Sunday afternoon, whilst reigning champion Ash Sutton has begun his title defence with six successive podiums from the first two events.
A scorching weekend roared on by thousands of fans was closed out with a hugely popular maiden win for Ronan Pearson, after the Scotsman made a stellar move for victory in the reverse grid race.
Sutton leads Turkington by two points in the overall Drivers' standings with Donington Park double winner Tom Ingram a further eight in arrears, whilst Jake Hill and Josh Cook lost ground after differing fortunes on race day.
BMW hold the lead in the Constructors’/Manufacturers’ standings, whilst NAPA Racing UK is the top team after six rounds.
Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing took a clean sweep of Independents’ victories, with drivers Árón Taylor-Smith and Mikey Doble leading the Independent Drivers’ and Jack Sears Trophy respectively.
Lights-to-flag triumph for Turkington
Team BMW's Turkington produced a textbook performance in the opening content, claiming his first victory of the season with an inch perfect drive.
A solid getaway from pole position was arguably the only challenge that Turkington faced on the soft Goodyear option tyre, as team-mate Adam Morgan became embroiled in the frenetic scrap for the positions behind the leader.
Morgan faded quickly to the lower end of the top ten before his challenge was completely scuppered following contact with Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS' Pearson on the run up to Druids.
NAPA Racing UK's Sutton had made his way by team-mate Dan Cammish into second before the positions were reversed a few laps later. Cammish, looking at a promising second place, was unfortunately dealt a blow when a puncture forced him into the pits.
So, the fight for second was eventually between Sutton and his old friend Josh Cook. There was little friendship in the fight, however, with the pair swapping paint on a number of occasions before LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ's Cook nudged his #66 Toyota Corolla down the inside of the #1 Ford Focus on the exit of Clearways.
Two wins for Turkington
For a man that has won four BTCC titles and nearly 70 races in the UK's premier motorsport championship, this was still one of the best ever weekends for Turkington, as he secured his second impressive win of the day.
As per the first race, Turkington took the victory in commanding fashion from pole position while the rest of the pack scrapped behind for the remaining podium positions.
Those places eventually went to Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS' Ingram and NAPA Racing UK's Sutton as the BTCC's two most recent champions resumed battle.
MB Motorsport with Laser Tools Racing's Hill looked like he could've grabbed his first podium of the day as he blasted into second on the opening lap, but he faded after a scrap with Sutton and LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ's Cook, before he eventually exited the race at Druids with damaged steering.
A safety car was called for after Hill's exit and it was the race for second place that grabbed the attention. Ingram hounded old adversary Sutton and for the second successive race the latter had to eventually relinquish the place in another exciting battle.
Pearson roars to maiden BTCC victory
Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS' Pearson took a fantastic maiden BTCC win in the final encounter.
Pearson failed to get the best of starts from pole position, as Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing’s Taylor-Smith blasted into the lead, but the former was determined to win back the place as quickly as possible.
That moment came at the end of the first lap as he saw half a car width of space on the run to Clearways and he expertly fired his Hyundai down the inside of the Vauxhall Astra.
It wasn't the last time a Hyundai would attack Taylor-Smith's #40 Astra with Tom Chilton making a huge lunge down the inside at Paddock Hill Bend late on. Both cars ran slightly wide as Chilton took the place, whilst reigning champion Sutton cleverly sneaked by into third.
Sutton, who has so often kept his powder dry, secured the final place on the rostrum to make it six podiums from six starts during the first two events of 2024. There was even better news for Sutton when one of his championship rivals – Ingram – was forced to pit with a puncture.
Colin Turkington, Team BMW, said: "It's a long time since I've won two in a day – everything has just fallen into place for me.
“Those races feel really good when you're not under too much pressure. Obviously, leading any race is a pressurised situation and not knowing when the tyres may drop off, but not getting too much pressure from behind certainly makes it easier to manage things. I am really pleased that we had a great car in qualifying yesterday and that we were able to convert that into the race today.
“WSR put in a huge effort with the BMWs pre-season and we're getting the fruits of that labour. It's nice when you feel super connected to the car, and it is definitely suiting me much better."
Ronan Pearson, Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS, said: “No words! It shouldn't feel surreal, we've had the pace to be there on merit. Obviously, our day started off horrendously and it just shows we never give up as your day can turn around so quickly in the BTCC.
“I can't wait to watch that back as every noise and vibration was starting to make my heart rate go up and I thought 'no, there is nothing wrong and we are going to be OK'. The start wasn't good. It seemed equal compared to everyone else but Árón [Taylor-Smith] was off like a stabbed rat as David [Addison] would say. There was half a car width and that was mine.
“It really is lovely, for years I have watched this and dreamt of this. How hard it has been to get here, few people know. I'll have to stop there before I get too emotional!”
2024 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Race 1 – Brands Hatch Indy
1. Colin Turkington, Team BMW 24 Laps
2. Josh Cook, LKQ Euro Parts with SYNETIQ +6.826s
3. Ash Sutton, NAPA Racing UK +8.722s
4. Jake Hill, Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport +14.924s
5. Dan Rowbottom, NAPA Racing UK +15.386s
6. Tom Chilton, Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS +19.342s
7. Tom Ingram, Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS +19.474s
8. Andrew Watson, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK +19.763s
9. Aiden Moffat, LKQ Euro Parts with SYNETIQ +20.669s
10. Árón Taylor-Smith, Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing +27.024s
2024 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Race 2 – Brands Hatch Indy
1. Colin Turkington, Team BMW 27 Laps
2. Tom Ingram, Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS +3.397s
3. Ash Sutton, NAPA Racing UK +3.656s
4. Adam Morgan, Team BMW +3.681s
5. Dan Rowbottom, NAPA Racing UK +7.348
6. Tom Chilton, Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS +7.911s
7. Dan Cammish, NAPA Racing UK +8.088s
8. Aiden Moffat, LKQ Euro Parts with SYNETIQ +8.585s
9. Mikey Doble, Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing +10.183s
10. Árón Taylor-Smith, Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing +10.388s
2024 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Race 3 – Brands Hatch Indy
1. Ronan Pearson, Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS 24 Laps
2. Tom Chilton, Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS +3.655s
3. Ash Sutton, NAPA Racing UK +4.479s
4. Árón Taylor-Smith, Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing +4.679s
5. Dan Cammish, NAPA Racing UK +5.748s
6. Dan Rowbottom, NAPA Racing UK +8.077s
7. Andrew Watson, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK +13.216s
8. Colin Turkington, Team BMW +13.552s
9. Rob Huff, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK +14.500s
10. Adam Morgan, Team BMW +15.344s
Penalties:
Race One
Andrew Watson received a six-second penalty during Round 4 of the championship, for an incident with Tom Ingram
Adam Morgan was officially reprimanded and received two penalty points during Round 4 of the championship, for an incident with Ronan Pearson
Race Three
Sam Osborne received a 10-second time penalty during Round 6 of the championship for track limits infringements
