In stark contrast to the conditions at Donington Park, the second meeting of the season was bathed in sunshine. With the new rules and regulations particularly evident in race three two weeks ago, would the races at Brands Hatch follow suit?

Qualifying 

There was a first pole position of the season for Team BMW’s Colin Turkington and he was joined on the front row by his teammate, Adam Morgan. The second row was a NAPA Racing lockout with Dan Cammish ahead of Ash Sutton and Josh Cook completed the top six along with Dan Rowbottom. Early championship leader, Tom Ingram, battled with the least amount of hybrid available to secure eighth.

Race One, 6/10 – Colin Turkington, Josh Cook, Ash Sutton

• The BMWs were away well as the lights went out and Sutton soon made his move on Cammish, with Cook in the mix too. Morgan, however, soon lost position after position, lap by lap, and was ninth on lap 6.
• Being in the middle of the pack can often bring drama given the close racing and Morgan moved over Ronan Pearson on lap 7, resulting in a collision and grass all over the track. 
• Lap 8 saw Cammish pit with a puncture after running highly, but his teammate Sutton was still there, albeit under pressure from Cook. The pressure told on lap 15 over the line into 16 as Cook made his move on the inside line to take second. 
• While the rest of the race continued in usual BTCC style, it was worth noting that tenth placed Rob Huff deliberately ran wide to allow Árón  Taylor-Smith through with a lap to go. Why? He wanted to ensure that he didn’t have to start the second race on the most unfavoured tyre, as is now obligatory for the top ten.
• At the front, Turkington cruised home to his 68th BTCC victory by a gap showing a tenth of his victories, 6.8 seconds.

Race Two, 6.5/10- Colin Turkington, Tom Ingram, Ash Sutton

• The top ten started on the hard tyres, but it made no difference to Turkington as he made another good start and had eked out a 1.3 second lead by the end of the opening lap as Cook, Jake Hill and Sutton battled behind. 
• Sutton made his move on Cook a lap later, but had to wait until lap 7 to take second from Hill after failing the lap before. With Cook and others there too, Hill plummeted to eighth with worse to follow, while Turkington was still making hay while the sun shined with a near four second lead. 
• At the midpoint of the race, Ingram was looking racy, taking several positions to move up to third, but his progress was halted as it appeared that Hill’s steering column broke and he went straight on at Druids requiring a safer car period to rescue his BMW from the gravel.
• Lap 19 saw a superb restart from Turkington and his lead was helped by the squabbling Sutton and Ingram, which eventually saw Ingram launch one up the inside of Paddock Hill Bend to secure second. Morgan, who had made eleven places in the race, caught the pair, but had to settle for fourth. 

Race Three, 6/10- Ronan Pearson, Tom Chilton, Ash Sutton

• Eleventh placed Pearson was drawn on pole for the final race of the day, where he was joined by Taylor-Smith, Mikey Doble and Aiden Moffat, the winner of the season’s first race three. 
• Taylor-Smith took the early lead, but Pearson found a Hyundai sized gap on the inside of Taylor-Smith at the end of the lap to claim the position back.
• Morgan appeared to be an early cork in the bottle, but once Sutton overtook him for seventh on lap 6, the reigning champion zoomed forward, with both him and teammate Cammish passing Doble in consecutive laps. Although Ingram did something similar, a puncture meant a trip to the pits for him. 
• Towards the end of the race, Tom Chilton, who had been strong throughout, barged his way through Taylor-Smith and the open door allowed Sutton to claim the final position of the the podium, while Pearson was able to stand on the top step for the first time in his BTCC career.

The weekend certainly belonged to Turkington this time out. A pole and two victories was great reward for the Northern Irishman, who already looks more at ease with his BMW this season. Going into the weekend, Turkington was fourth in the standings after Donington, so he hardly had the full complement of hybrid for qualifying, but did a fantastic job nevertheless. 

To cruise home with a near seven second lead was brilliant in race one, but to be on course for nearly the same in race two until the safety car, on unfavoured tyres, shows that Turkington’s BMW is ready to challenge this season.

However, the usual contenders stand in his way, not least the reigning champion, Sutton, who is also going for a fifth drivers’ crown. Incredibly, he has been on the podium in every race so far this season, despite no victories, and that consistent approach is exactly what wins championships. While NAPA dominated last year’s championship, they don’t appear to be as dominant this year, albeit still incredibly strong. It will be interesting to see how they progress throughout the season. 

It could be argued that the new rules made it tough for Ingram in qualifying and race one and while he came out of the opening race with a respectable seventh and a second in race two, the puncture in race three has set him back a little in the championship standings. 

The effect of the top ten running on the harder tyre in race two was apparent, but not crucial, as yet again, we had a double winner, as well as Sutton securing third. Perhaps, Brands Hatch Indy was not the track for the impact to be seen in full, but at a much longer Snetterton next time out, it may become more evident along with the hybrid allocations. 

While the second meeting of the season, didn’t quite live up to the opening rounds at Donington Park, there has unquestionably been enough evidence to suggest that this is going to be another great battle at the front of the grid. 

2024 BTCC Championship Standings

1.	Ashley Sutton	95 points
2.	Colin Turkington	93
3.	Tom Ingram	85
4.	Jake Hill	59
5.	Josh Cook	52
6.	Aiden Moffat	51