BTCC 2019 finale | Time for Coffee?
If you've not caught up with yesterday's Brands Hatch drama, best get the kettle on...
Anybody who reckons modern British touring cars lacks drama should watch yesterday's final races from Brands Hatch. There were thrills and spills, shocks and scraps and, um, scintillating racing. At the end of it all, the BTCC champion for 2019 was... well, we won't spoil it just yet, for those that don't know.
The day began with Colin Turkington leading the way on 297 points, Dan Cammish in second on 281, Andrew Jordan just a point further back, then Josh Cook and Tom Ingram on 263 and 236 points respectively.
The first race could hardly have gone better for Dan Cammish, who took the lead in a spectacular move around the outside of Paddock Hill Bend and stayed there for the win. With teammate Matt Neal in second and reigning champion Turkington only mustering a fifth-place finish, the gap had been closed.
Round 29 saw Turkington's superb start - leaping from fifth to second - squandered as he spun at Graham Hill Bend. The Northern Irishman would eventually finish 25th, with Cammish keeping his Civic Type R out of trouble and securing a third place - it was all to play for going into the final round.
Following a door-to-door battle with Turkington, Dan Cammish suffered brake failure around the back of the Brands GP circuit, careering into the tyres at Hawthorns. The Team Dynamics driver tweeted: "Wasn't to be but I can hold my head high."
That sort of settled the title, then, but it wasn't the end of the drama. With Andrew Jordan having finished fourth, following second in round 29, ended up level on points with Cammish on 318 - just two off the championship itself. It was some finale, with Turkington now a four-time champion, the best bits of which can be watched below. If next season can match 2019's championship, we're in for another vintage year of BTCC.
I actually think he did the right thing; he took one for the team in same way a footballer might take a player down and take a red card in an attempt to prevent a sure-fire goal. But what you can't do is blissfully ignore that, and then carry on moaning when things don't go your way.
I'm glad it worked out for Turkington (although, poor Cammish...) in the end, but that would have been a travesty if he was left far out of the running after clearly been taken out.
I know the organisers are clamping down on driving standards, particularly push-to-pass contact, but this seems to indicate if the driver in front fails to see an attempted overtake manoeuvre then it's the car behind's fault. Madness!
Make that 98th win.........
I've never been a big fan of Neal, but my respect for him went the same way as mine for Frank Biella and Steve Soper (which really hurt me at the time) yesterday.
You had to feel some sympathy for Cammish, but I think the result was the right one in the end, especially as Turkington drove so hard in race 3.
I'm sure the organisers have telemetry and such like, which we don't and they thought it unfair, so I'm going to stick to my original belief than Neal decided to help his teammate in a very unsportsmanslike manner.
Yes, it's top level motor racing, but it's not banger racing...
Whatever you thought of the results, though, it was certainly dramatic!
M
I know the organisers are clamping down on driving standards, particularly push-to-pass contact, but this seems to indicate if the driver in front fails to see an attempted overtake manoeuvre then it's the car behind's fault. Madness!
The approach to Graham Hill Bend is at an angle, and it narrows on you. There simply isn't space for multiple cars at the bottom of the hill. It's therefore not an overtaking corner with evenly matched cars - instead you try and disrupt someone's line enough to cut back on them down Cooper Straight because they have either missed the apex, or run wide onto the bumpy exit kerbs whilst under pressure.
Moreover, the conditions were wet, and conventional wet lines (especially at Graham Hill) dictate the inside line would have less grip.
Matt is very experienced. He knew exactly what he was doing, and so did the stewards - hence the penalty points.
Make that 98th win.........
Hard luck Max, will be keeping an eye on your next move for next season
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