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.
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 |