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Chilton wins chaotic season finale

Tom Chilton took his first British Touring Car Championship victory for over three years in a chaotic final race of the season at Brands Hatch

The Team Halfords Honda driver led the pack into the pits as the race finished under the safety car due to oil that had been left on the track at Paddock Hill bend by Martyn Bell's Arkas Racing Vauxhall Astra.

The oil did cause havoc though before the safety car was deployed, with Tom Onslow-Cole sliding through the gravel in his Vauxhall and losing his second place to Steven Kane's Motorbase BMW.

Rob Collard, Fabrizio Giovanardi and Andrew Jordan were all affected by the oil as well, with Mat Jackson managing to pick his way through the mayhem to finish fourth for BMW Dealer Team UK and Colin Turkington doing likewise in his Team RAC BMW.

Jackson's result, combined with Jason Plato not scoring for SEAT, means that he has sneaked into second place in the overall championship at the season's end, although Turkington's finish right behind confirmed him as the Independent's champion for the second year in a row.

The race had earlier spent ten laps behind the safety car after John George and Darren Turner made contact going into Surtees on lap one - George's resultant collision with the tyre barrier launching his TH Motorsport Honda into a series of horrifying rolls from which he was lucky to walk away apparently unharmed.

Giovanardi finished 11th, ironically experiencing his worst weekend of the season on the day he was crowned as champion for the second time. Neither SEAT managed to score either on what was the Spanish manufacturer's BTCC swansong.


Pos Driver                Team                     Gap
 1. Tom Chilton           Honda              24:47.517
 2. Steven Kane           BMW                   +0.727
 3. Tom Onslow-Cole       Vauxhall              +1.166
 4. Mat Jackson           BMW                   +1.711
 5. Colin Turkington      BMW                   +2.475
 6. Rob Collard           BMW                   +3.201
 7. Andrew Jordan         Honda                 +3.968
 8. Matt Neal             Vauxhall              +4.479
 9. Gordon Shedden        Honda                 +4.820
10. Mike Jordan           Honda                 +5.713
11. Fabrizio Giovanardi   Vauxhall              +6.242
12. Darren Turner         SEAT                  +6.720
13. Jason Plato           SEAT                  +7.188
14. Harry Vaulkhard       Chevrolet             +7.639
15. Jason Hughes          Honda                 +8.821
16. Alan Taylor           Honda                +23.788

Not classified

    Driver                Car                     Laps
    Stephen Jelley        BMW                  23 laps
    Martyn Bell           Vauxhall             22 laps
    Adam Jones            SEAT                 17 laps
    Erkut Kizilirmak      Vauxhall             17 laps
    John George           Honda                 0 laps

Fastest lap, Giovanardi 49:871 on lap 14

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