Ricky Collard claimed his maiden race win in the British Touring Car Championship in a disrupted final race of the season at Brands Hatch.
But the Excelr8 Motorsport Hyundai i30 N Fastback driver, who returned to the cockpit for Brands after being forced to stand down last time out at Silverstone, may face a wait pending an investigation into an incident with Ash Sutton.
Sutton had moved up to second place in his Alliance Racing-run NAPA Ford Focus Titanium, then got a run on Collard out of Hawthorns bend. The 2026 champion moved to the inside of the Hyundai, but Collard kept moving over until he forced the Ford onto the grass.
Sutton mowed through a KwikFit board, briefly emerged in the lead at the Westfield apex, but was on course for the gravel on the outside of the corner. This dropped him to ninth.
Collard then came under attack from another Alliance Ford, that of Dan Cammish, but the Hampshireman’s surfeit of TOCA Turbo Boost meant it was going to be tough for Cammish to make the move.
Then back came Sutton. He was up to third with two laps remaining, and as the final tour started he went high into Paddock Hill Bend to get the cutback on Cammish up to Druids.
Cammish repassed on the straight after Surtees, and it was the Yorkshireman who ended up second to Collard, 1.026 seconds adrift.
Dexter Patterson, from reversed-grid pole position, kept his Power Maxed Racing Audi A3 Saloon in the mix throughout, and the Scottish youngster brought it home fourth.
Aiden Moffat completed a PMR Audi 4-5, while Adam Morgan worked his CPRL Mercedes A35 Saloon past Josh Cook’s Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Corolla GR Sport for sixth with two laps remaining.
The top 10 was completed by Dan Lloyd (Restart Racing Hyundai), Gordon Shedden (Speedworks Toyota) and Mikey Doble (PMR Audi).
The race twice under safety car. Just after the start, the Excelr8 Hyundais of Tom Ingram and Tom Chilton speared off at Paddock after contact with the Alliance Ford of Sam Osborne. Nick Halstead (PMR Audi) went off in sympathy, while further down the hill Lewis Selby (Alliance Ford) also plunged into the gravel, with Dan Rowbottom (CPRL Mercedes) forced off too.
Rowbottom managed to rejoin at the back of the field, but might as well not have bothered because he caused the second safety car when he pulled off at the top of Paddock with his brakes on fire.