The other title battles to be decided at Brands Hatch this weekend

It’s a pretty safe bet that the British Touring Car champion will be decided at the last race of the season, the close nature of the competition making it difficult for one driver to pull clear from the rest. And, although Ash Sutton enjoys a very healthy 32-point lead heading into this weekend’s Brands Hatch finale, it’s far from all done and dusted.

On the other hand, very often at least one of the BTCC’s support categories is all sewn up prior to the trip to Kent. But, for just the third time in the past 10 seasons, none of the overall champions have been crowned with an event to spare.

The Porsche Carrera Cup GB has most frequently been the series already decided prior to the finale – this was the case four times from 2015-20 – but, this year, it’s the closest of all in terms of the points gap between the top two without dropped scores being taken into account.

Just nine markers separate two-time champion Dan Cammish and chaser Lorcan Hanafin, but it must be noted that the Carrera Cup offers significantly fewer points per race than the other categories, and Cammish’s advantage is therefore greater than it actually sounds in comparison to his fellow points leaders.

A battle royale between Cammish and reigning champion Harry King was expected this year on the former's return to the series from touring cars. But instead the impressive Hanafin has often been the one to beat – the JTR driver has taken more poles and race-one victories than anyone in the competitive field.

However misfortune and little errors in the reversed-grid contests have proved costly, and Redline racer Cammish’s consistency means he will be tough to topple this weekend. Plus, he has been here before and knows what it takes to win a title, while Hanafin – still in only his second year of senior racing – does not have that past experience.

Hanafin has starred in 2021 but Cammish has the Carrera Cup advantage

Photo by: Porsche

Charging rookie Kiern Jewiss and King do retain slim chances of taking the title, but it would be a very dramatic turn of events for either of them, particularly King, to triumph (the drivers in bold in the points table below being those still with a chance of succeeding).

Having said that, back in 2018 – the last time none of the TOCA support titles had been decided ahead of the finale – the Carrera Cup did have a dramatic conclusion, Dino Zamparelli spinning from the lead of the opener and missing out to Tio Ellinas by just two points.

Porsche Carrera Cup GB

Probably the most difficult champion to predict is the British Formula 4 winner. JHR’s Matthew Rees heads to Brands 12 points clear of Peruvian Matias Zagazeta (Argenti Motorsport), but such a small advantage means it’s very much still up for grabs.

Rees reclaimed the initiative with a double victory last time out at Donington Park. Considering the Leicestershire venue was far from his favourite and he was still top of the class, he is confident ahead of the finale.

McKenzy Cresswell and Joel Granfors are both just about still in contention, but some way further back from the top two.

British Formula 4

There is plenty still to play for in the Mini Challenge, with over 150 points still available and just 31 separating Excelr8 Motorsport team-mates Dan Zelos and Max Bird. Zelos, who has led the way for much of the campaign and has taken the most wins, is still well-placed to secure a crown he has missed out on for the past two years, but a tricky Donington event means Bird is much closer than Zelos would like at this crucial stage of the season.

But, given the sheer number of points on offer, the Mini battle has the largest number of drivers still in the picture, and Jack Davidson, Sam Weller, Max Coates and Lewis Brown cannot yet be discounted.

Mini Challenge

Zelos has been the Mini pacesetter for much of the year

Photo by: Mark Chivers

The two Ginetta points leaders have the greatest gaps at present, but it’s far from over in these championships either. R Racing’s Aston Millar enjoys a 48-point cushion in Ginetta Junior over Liam McNeilly (Fox Motorsport), largely thanks to his stunning consistency this year.

This is the only two-horse race among the five series but, with a packed grid, there are plenty of others who could play a part in shaping the title’s destiny.

Ginetta Junior

Elite Motorsport’s Adam Smalley enjoys a similar 44-point advantage in the GT4 Supercup. It had been very close between him and Rob Boston Racing driver Tom Hibbert until Donington, where a nightmare for Hibbert dropped him back into the clutches of Smalley’s team-mate Josh Rattican, who remains in with a shout of overall glory in his first season out of Ginetta Junior.

Ginetta GT4 Supercup

With so much still to play for, an intriguing weekend at Brands is therefore in prospect. And, as always, there’s likely to be many more twists and turns in these title battles still to come.

Strong Donington Park weekend for Smalley has put him in a strong position

Photo by: Stephen Fisher