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Tom Chilton goes lights to flag in reverse grid blockbuster

Tom Chilton put in a faultless drive to score a lights-to-flag victory in an action-packed final British Touring Car Championship race of the weekend at Croft.

Starting from pole as a result of the reverse grid draw, Chilton made a lightning fast getaway to open up an early 1-second advantage between his EXCELR8-run Hyundai and the chasing pack, led by Power Maxed Racing’s Aron Taylor-Smith (Vauxhall).

He continued to enjoy a hassle-free run up front, as behind the battle for second spot backwards reached fever pitch.

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Taylor-Smith’s hopes were dashed after Tom Ingram boldly dived to the inside at the Jim Clark Esses; both he and Taylor-Smith ran wide on the exit, allowing NAPA Racing UK’s Dan Cammish to sweep underneath them both on the apex at Sunny In.

From there, Cammish attempted to give chase to Chilton, but the latter saved up the majority of his hybrid deployment for the closing laps, giving him a crucial advantage. He duly took the chequered flag 1.5 seconds clear, notching up a 16th career win in the BTCC in the process.

Having re-joined third after the scuffle with Taylor-Smith, Ingram then came to blows with race one winner Colin Turkington at the same part of the track.

This time it was Ingram on the defensive, with four-time champion Turkington attempting a pass on the outside through the Esses. Contact was made on the exit, spearing the WSR-run BMW across the grass, and into the barriers.

Ingram continued and claimed the final spot on the podium to open up a 21-point advantage over Jake Hill (BMW) after 18 of the 30 races.

Ash Sutton survived a scare after being pitched sideways by Rob Huff at Sunny In to score fourth; a combination of stellar car control and the Toyota opting to back up and allow the reigning champion back on circuit after the contact saved Sutton’s race.

Huff would drop behind Hill by the flag, with the erstwhile points leader on something of a charge to minimise the damage to Ingram in the standings, after two frustrating races earlier in the day.

Josh Cook (Toyota), Dan Rowbottom (Ford) and Adam Morgan (BMW) were next, with Ronan Pearson steering his Hyundai from the back to round out the top ten.

Chris Smiley (CUPRA) was the leading Independent in 11th, just a further two tenths back from Pearson, with Sam Osborne’s Ford in tow.

Taylor-Smith eventually finished 13th, after late-race contact with his Power Maxed Racing team-mate Mikey Doble left both Vauxhalls with damage, and vulnerable to a recovering Turkington.

The Northern Irishman ultimately split the pair on a drag race to the line, passing Doble but finishing a mere tenth behind Taylor-Smith’s smoking Astra.

Scott Sumpton was next; fellow CUPRA racer Daryl Deleon finished higher up the order but received a 10-second time penalty for a false start and was classified 17th. Nick Halstead’s Hyundai rounded out the 18 finishers, with both Andrew Watson and Aiden Moffat (both Toyota) retiring earlier on with damage.

Knockhill, Fife, hosts the next three rounds of the BTCC on 11-12 August.

Race result

POS NO CL NAT DRIVER ENTRANT CAR LAPS TIME BEST GD
1 3 M Tom CHILTON BRISTOL STREET MOTORS Hyundai i30 N Fastback 15 20:56.324 1:22.538 1
2 27 M Dan CAMMISH NAPA Racing UK Ford Focus ST 15 1.504 1:21.989 3
3 80 M Tom INGRAM BRISTOL STREET MOTORS Hyundai i30 N Fastback 15 2.141 1:22.060 5
4 1 M Ashley SUTTON NAPA Racing UK Ford Focus ST 15 8.219 1:23.206 4
5 24 M Jake HILL Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport BMW 330e M Sport 15 8.760 1:23.181 16
6 12 M Rob HUFF TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK Toyota Corolla GR Sport 15 11.151 1:23.137 7
7 66 M Josh COOK LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ Toyota Corolla GR Sport 15 12.550 1:23.443 8
8 32 M Daniel ROWBOTTOM NAPA Racing UK Ford Focus ST 15 12.719 1:23.379 6
9 33 M Adam MORGAN Team BMW BMW 330e M Sport 15 17.519 1:23.419 17
10 14 M Ronan PEARSON BRISTOL STREET MOTORS Hyundai i30 N Fastback 15 24.337 1:23.484 20
11 222 I Chris SMILEY Restart Racing CUPRA Leon 15 24.583 1:23.466 19
12 77 M Sam OSBORNE NAPA Racing UK Ford Focus ST 15 26.379 1:23.503 13
13 40 I Árón TAYLOR-SMITH Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall Astra 15 28.842 1:23.159 2
14 20 M Colin TURKINGTON Team BMW BMW 330e M Sport 15 28.951 1:22.406 9
15 88 I Mikey DOBLE Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall Astra 15 29.154 1:23.356 11
16 29 I Scott SUMPTON Restart Racing CUPRA Leon 15 29.638 1:23.703 15
17 18 I Daryl DELEON Duckhams Racing with Bartercard CUPRA Leon 15 33.889 1:23.061 14
18 22 M Nick HALSTEAD BRISTOL STREET MOTORS Hyundai i30 N Fastback 15 1:05.223 1:26.412 18
NC 11 M Andrew WATSON TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK Toyota Corolla GR Sport 11 NCF 1:23.327 12
R 16 M Aiden MOFFAT LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ Toyota Corolla GR Sport 3 DNF 1:24.639 10
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