BTCC: Rainford wins epic end of day finale to claim his first win in the BTCC

The final race of the weekend at Brands Hatch on the Indy circuit saw Daniel Rowbottom on pole ahead of the BMW pairing of Jake Hill and Charles Rainford due to the reverse grid draw.

Off the line the rear wheel drive BMW's got the better launch over the front wheel drive Ford of Rowbottom but, the NAPA driver managed to defend into turn 1. Rainford would make a move on Hill at the final corner to move up to second before a corner later, charging past Rowbottom for the lead.

Ingram meanwhile would make up a couple places on the opening lap to be right behind Sutton. Chilton not too far behind Ingram also makes up a few places himself. Moffat would subsequently drop behind Sutton and Ingram as the three of them continue to fight, all while Hill would make his way past Rowbottom for second, now setting his sights on the rookie of Rainford.

Ingram slices past Sutton to chase after Smiley setting the lap record in his quest to catch the Hyundai. Ingram continues his charge by passing Smiley at the final corner for 4th chasing after Rowbottom while Hill puts pressure on Rainford for the lead.

The charge for the now leading Hyundai continues as Ingram would fly by Rowbottom ready to attack Hill, who had used up all his boost for the rest of the race while Ingram was still able to use it on every lap.

Smiley and Sutton get by Rowbottom before Sutton passes the Independent class race leader for 4th. Ingram challenges Hill for second but the BMW defends harshly trying to maintain the place and despite the pace of the Hyundai, Hill would stay ahead.

Rainford though would have a sizeable margin by the end of the race and went on to win his first BTCC race in just his 6th race in the series in an excellent drive. Hill would finish in second and Ingram would round out the podium ahead of Sutton and Smiley who wins the Independent class.

Josh Cook would finish in 6th ahead of Tom Chilton and Aiden Moffat while Daniel Rowbottom would stay ahead of Shedden who after a difficult weekend came home to finish 10th in a good result.

At the end of the weekend, Sutton leads the standings by just 5 points over Ingram. 12 points separate Hill whose third in the standings from Sutton. Meanwhile Tom Chilton just stays ahead of Adam Morgan for 4th in the standings.

The Independents championship sees Chris Smiley lead the standings ahead of Mikey Doble and Josh Cook. Stephen Jelley is currently 4th in the standings ahead of Dexter Patterson in 5th.

The Jack Sears Trophy sees Daryl DeLeon leading the standings by just 10 points over Ronan Pearson. Charles Rainford would be just 7 points further behind while Osborne and Dorlin would be separated by a point in 4th and 5th.

The next race of the championship is in Snetterton in two weeks time as the championship will continue to throw more twists and turns into the mix.