BTCC: Cook claims victory in an excellent finale

Josh Cook took victory in the final race of the season to become the thirteenth driver to win this season.

Aiden Moffat started on pole from Cook and Jake Hill while Dan Rowbottom and Dan Cammish start alongside each other. Moffat would get a good start leading convincingly off the line while Cook loses second to Hill at the start. Further back, Charles Rainford made up five places to get to seventeenth in the opening sector in bis quest to catch DeLeon. Cook would apply pressure to Hill across the rest of the opening lap before lookjng to find a way by into Druids on the second lap with a great run from Paddock Hill Bend. Cook completes the move opening the door up for Sutton to find his way by to claim third dropping Hill to fourth.

Hill would need to defend even more as Rowbottom would pull alongside on the run to Hawthorn but the BMW defended it. Further back, Sam Osborne and Adam Morgan fight over tenth place as in a crucial battle for the Teams and Manufacturers championship. Morgan would manage to make his way into tenth on lap three of the race.

Out front, Cook puts Moffat under pressure trying to make a move on lap four before contact between Rowbottom and Cammish forces Cammish off the road and into Rowbottom, breaking the suspension of Cammish and throwing him out of the race. Cook would manage to get passed Moffat to take the lead before the Safety Car was deployed. While the Safety Car was out, Tom Chilton would pull out of the race with a technical issue ending his day.

The race would restart on lap eight as Sutton would make his way passed Moffat for second. Hill would try to pass Moffat as well but would be forced off the road slightly, allowing Gordon Shedden to pull alongside Hill, but the BMW defends successfully. Hill would try to attack against Moffat once more the following lap, passing him on lap nine at Surtees for the final podium spot.

Meanwhile, the battle between DeLeon and Rainford would heat up as Rainford sits just behind DeLeon on lap nine of the race, both passing Doble for position. DeLeon would soon put a car between him and Rainford though as he would pass Árón Taylor-Smith for thirteenth overall on lap ten before Taylor-Smith slows quickly due to a technical issue putting the two right back with each other.

On lap twelve, DeLeon and Rainford would pass Chris Smiley as the BMW's would continue to push their way through the field. This would leave the three championship contenders in the Independents Championship fighting with one another. Dan Lloyd would try to Mikey Doble but couldn't quite find a way by until the following lap into Paddock Hill bend where he pulled alongside but couldn't quite do anything against the harsh defense that was being put up.

The Jack Sears Trophy championship protagonists would see DeLeon defend on lap fifthteen from Rainford but the pace of Rainford was becoming stronger in comparison to the championship leader. Rainford would eventually make his way by to shrink the points gap between him and DeLeon. Further up the field, Rowbottom would lose out to Ingram and Morgan on lap sixteen as the Hyundai's pass the NAPA for crucial points in the Teams and Manufacturers championship. Shedden and Moffat would fight hard on the final lap over fourth place with the BMW unable to stop the Toyota.

Out front, it would be Cook who claims the final race win of the season ahead of Sutton and Hill. Shedden would finish ahead of Moffat and Ingram while Morgan. Rowbottom, Proctor and Osborne complete the top ten. After the race, Rowbottom would be disqualified for his earlier contact with Cammish pushing Patterson into tenth place while also winning the Independents race in the process.

With Ingram claiming the title the race earlier in the day, it would be more delight for the Hyundai squad after they claimed the manufacturers championship by three points. However, the Teams Championship would go the way of NAPA Racing UK for a fourth year in a row by only two points.

The Independents drivers championship would go the way of Lloyd by four points over Doble while Smiley was only one point further back. The Independent Teams Championship went to Restart Racing after winning it at Silverstone a few weeks earlier.

The Jack Sears Trophy went down to the wire as well but DeLeon would claim the title by just three points over Rainford after the pairs tense battles across the season.