Power Maxed Racing’s Jason Plato took his first victory of the 2019 British Touring Car Championship season while Colin Turkington took a record-equalling fourth title in a dramatic season finale which saw Dan Cammish crash out of contention.
As the first runner on the softer compound rubber, Plato took full advantage and breezed past polesitter Senna Proctor and erstwhile Stephen Jelley in the early stages before building his advantage.
He then held on to secure his 97th series win despite late-race pressure from newly-crowned Independent Drivers’ Champion Rory Butcher to take victory by just under one second.
But all eyes were on Turkington, who clinched his fourth BTCC title after battling through from 25th on the grid to finish in sixth position, while his title rival Cammish seemingly suffered a brake failure which caused a high-speed off at Hawthorns on the penultimate lap.
That, and a fourth position finish for WSR stablemate Andrew Jordan, was enough for the Northern Irishman to claim honours by just two points from both Cammish and Jordan.
Behind Butcher in second position was race two winner Ash Sutton, who capped off a difficult 2019 campaign with a successful weekend on the 2.4-mile Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit.
Jordan managed to eclipse BTC Racing’s Josh Cook in the closing stages, while Turkington progressed some 19 positions to finish sixth on the grid after a phenomenal drive.
Team Toyota GB’s Tom Ingram was also involved in that battle, and would eventually come home in seventh ahead of Motorbase’s Ollie Jackson.
Ciceley Motorsport’s Adam Morgan, who had been pressurising Cammish before his off at Hawthorn, came home ninth while Tom Oliphant made it three BMWs in the top ten.
Jelley recovered from an off at Surtees to finish 11th ahead of AmD Tuning’s Jake Hill, while double champion Matt Neal was 13th.
Aiden Moffat secured further points in his Infiniti Q50, while Bobby Thompson rounded out the points-paying positions in 15th.
Race result
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 11 | M | Jason PLATO |  |
Sterling Insurance with Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 15 | 23:19.614 | 1:32.091 | 5 |
| 2 | 6 | I | Rory BUTCHER | |
Cobra Sport AmD AutoAid / RCIB Insurance | Honda Civic Type R | 15 | 0.958 | 1:32.223 | 3 |
| 3 | 116 | M | Ashley SUTTON | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg | 15 | 1.767 | 1:32.153 | 10 |
| 4 | 77 | M | Andrew JORDAN | |
BMW Pirtek Racing | BMW 330i M Sport | 15 | 4.248 | 1:32.033 | 9 |
| 5 | 66 | I | Josh COOK | |
BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 15 | 5.333 | 1:31.783 | 12 |
| 6 | 1 | M | Colin TURKINGTON | |
Team BMW | BMW 330i M Sport | 15 | 13.598 | 1:31.864 | 25 |
| 7 | 80 | M | Tom INGRAM | |
Team Toyota GB with Ginsters | Toyota Corolla | 15 | 14.103 | 1:31.911 | 21 |
| 8 | 48 | I | Ollie JACKSON | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher | Ford Focus RS | 15 | 16.810 | 1:32.358 | 6 |
| 9 | 33 | I | Adam MORGAN | |
Mac Tools with Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 15 | 17.346 | 1:32.402 | 26 |
| 10 | 15 | M | Tom OLIPHANT | |
Team BMW | BMW 330i M Sport | 15 | 17.653 | 1:32.679 | 30 |
| 11 | 12 | I | Stephen JELLEY | |
Team Parker Racing | BMW 125i M Sport | 15 | 18.758 | 1:32.799 | 2 |
| 12 | 24 | I | Jake HILL | |
TradePriceCars.com | Audi S3 | 15 | 19.409 | 1:32.669 | 19 |
| 13 | 25 | M | Matt NEAL | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 15 | 19.786 | 1:32.383 | 13 |
| 14 | 16 | I | Aiden MOFFAT | |
Laser Tools Racing | Infiniti Q50 | 15 | 19.931 | 1:32.821 | 11 |
| 15 | 19 | I | Bobby THOMPSON | |
GKR Scaffolding with Autobrite Direct | Volkswagen CC | 15 | 23.307 | 1:32.736 | 16 |
| 16 | 21 | I | Mike BUSHELL | |
Cobra Sport AmD AutoAid / RCIB Insurance | Honda Civic Type R | 15 | 23.724 | 1:32.609 | 18 |
| 17 | 44 | I | Michael CAINE | |
Motorbase Performance | Ford Focus RS | 15 | 24.171 | 1:32.869 | 4 |
| 18 | 9 | M | Rob COLLARD | |
Sterling Insurance with Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 15 | 24.800 | 1:32.948 | 17 |
| 19 | 41 | I | Carl BOARDLEY | |
RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport | Volkswagen CC | 15 | 31.345 | 1:33.284 | 14 |
| 20 | 8 | I | Mark BLUNDELL | |
TradePriceCars.com | Audi S3 | 15 | 32.646 | 1:33.512 | 28 |
| 21 | 18 | M | Senna PROCTOR | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg | 15 | 32.916 | 1:32.510 | 1 |
| 22 | 37 | I | Rob SMITH | |
Exceler8 Motorsport | MG6 | 15 | 34.070 | 1:33.489 | 20 |
| R | 27 | M | Dan CAMMISH | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 13 | DNF | 1:32.671 | 8 |
| R | 4 | I | Sam OSBORNE | |
Exceler8 Motorsport | MG6 | 13 | DNF | 1:34.253 | 22 |
| R | 32 | I | Daniel ROWBOTTOM | |
Cataclean Racing with Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 12 | DNF | 1:32.899 | 15 |
| R | 303 | I | Matt SIMPSON | |
Simpson Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 5 | DNF | 1:32.950 | 27 |
| R | 777 | I | Michael CREES | |
GKR Scaffolding with Autobrite Direct | Volkswagen CC | 3 | DNF | 1:35.382 | 23 |
| R | 3 | I | Tom CHILTON | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher | Ford Focus RS | 1 | DNF | 1:43.800 | 7 |
| R | 22 | I | Chris SMILEY | |
BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 0 | DNF | N/A | 24 |
| NS | 31 | I | Jack GOFF | |
RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport | Volkswagen CC | – | DNS | N/A | 29 |
