Brands Hatch GP will be one Ricky Collard will never forget, for he is finally a British Touring Car Championship victor.
Starting on pole for the reverse-grid Race 3 after finishing P9 in Race 2, Dexter Patterson led the field away from the off.
But, it was not long before chaos took hold in 2026’s finale. Four cars were lost on the opening venture down Paddock Hill – including Tom Chilton bowing as he stepped out of his Hyundai in the gravel.
The melee also included Tom Ingram, with Sam Osborne the perpetrator, Nick Halstead joined them as he attempted to avoid, and Lewis Selby went off further down the bend. Dan Rowbottom also suffered, dropping to P19 before the safety car was deployed.
At the front, Collard managed to take the lead from Patterson, having had a start so good he bumped him and his foe down to the first corner, as Dan Cammish jumped into P3.
After a lengthy break in green-flag running as the stranded Paddock Hill-ians were recovered, racing resumed on lap seven, with three added to the new total of 18.
Having waited until the last possible moment to pin the throttle, Collard ran away through Paddock Hill and Druids to retain his lead, while Ash Sutton quickly dispatched Cammish and Patterson to pop himself into P2.
Having been feisty with each other the whole weekend, Sutton’s progress ensured that he would be able to scrap with Collard one last time. By lap nine, he had already found himself right on the back bumper of Collard through Druids.
Though, the fight would not last for long. Sutton found himself moved to the extreme inside at Westfield with Collard moving across rapidly to try and keep his lead. The five-time Drivers’ Champion skidded across the grass and rejoined in P9, before improving back up to P7 a lap later.
The battle saw Patterson have a sniff at Collard, before once again falling behind Cammish as the NAPA man became the latest challenger to Collard’s lead.
Lap 12 saw Dan Rowbottom’s CPRL Mercedes pull to the inside of Paddock Hill bend, with his glowing front brakes setting on fire as he exited the race and spawned the safety car. Reunited with his flash button this weekend, even the safety car could not escape Collard’s button-spamming during the second pause of the race.
Resuming on lap 15, Collard once again led the field away with a late sprint that caused some stress behind him. Recovering from his off, Sutton grabbed P4 and P3 while Árón Taylor-Smith had one of his own after moving across Charles Rainford – managing to drag his crabbing Corolla to the pits.
On the final lap, Sutton completed a fine move on Cammish with great risk at Paddock Hill, but contact saw him decide to give the place back to his teammate – with that order holding until the flag.
And at the flag, it was Collard – the man with the most BTCC podiums without victory – who finally took a victory in the series to the season-ending fireworks.
Cammish and Sutton followed to complete the podium, with Patterson, Moffat, Adam Morgan, Josh Cook, Dan Lloyd, Gordon Shedden, and Mikey Doble rounding out the points.
Rainford finished P11, with Chris Smiley, Daryl De Leon, Osborne, and Ryan Bensley scoring the final points.
View the BTCC Brands Hatch Race 3 results here!
Full classification coming soon…
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