The BTCC made its annual visit to the home of British motorsport on Sunday for the penultimate round of its enthralling 2025 championship season. There are now just three races of the season left and everything to play for at Brands Hatch. But before we get onto that, let’s recap the three races from Silverstone and the biggest stories to come out of them.
Plato hints at BTCC return:
Before racing even got underway, the BTCC rumour mill was thrown into overtime as two time BTCC champion Jason Plato revealed that he is now a British Touring Car Championship ‘team owner’. The team will be named ‘Jason Plato Motorsport’ and should be on the grid in 2026. The cars and the drivers remain unknown.
The information came out in an interview where Plato talked about his own mental health battles since leaving the grid in 2022.
Race One: Lloyd takes fifth career win in Silverstone opener:
Dan Lloyd helped Restart Racing secure their first British Touring Car Championship win in the first race of the day at Silverstone. The team has been the dominant force in the independent championship this year with 17 wins in their class and a healthy lead heading into the finale.
Lloyd started the race from fourth position which quickly became third as he passed Jake Hill on the exit of Copse corner. He made a similar move a lap later on the polesitter Daryl Deleon as he was forced out wide at Copse by Gordon Shedden. Lloyd made a decisive dive at the Beckets Hairpin to put himself in second position. Despite overtaking a car at the Beckets Hairpin, Lloyd still got a great exit and managed to attack Shedden down the Wellington Straight. He got to the inside of the Scottish driver and put himself into first place by the end of lap two.
Tom Ingram and Ash Sutton both had poor qualifying results by their own standards. But there was no doubt that they would be right back in contention on race day. By lap four, Ingram was right on the back of Sutton in a battle for ninth place. The championship leader was keen to get on with things as he passed Sutton into Brooklands. There was hope for Sutton on lap 10 as Ingram closed up to his teammate Dan Rowbottom. Rowbo managed to back Ingram into Sutton but the Hyundai snuck past the Ford with a move to the inside of Luffield. Sutton managed to attack
Hamilton’s race goes up in flames
On lap 18, Nicolas Hamilton pulled his Cupra to the side of the track with smoke pouring from the front of the car. The fire intensified quickly and a safety car was called out. The damage sustained by the fire was enough to rule Hamilton’s Cupra out for the rest of the day.
The race ended up finishing behind the safety car with Hamilton’s car still smoking on the side of the circuit. This gave Dan Lloyd a smooth drive to the chequered flag to give the Restart Racing crew their first outright victory and Lloyd became the 12th different winner of the season. Jake Hill followed him home in second position with Gordon Shedden taking the final spot on the podium. Josh Cook had an impressive race coming home in fifth position after joining Toyota last meeting. Ingram managed to add an extra point to his championship lead over Sutton as he came home in seventh, one place ahead of Sutton. Both finished the highest of the medium tyre runners
Race Two: Ingram wins crucial shootout against Sutton
Despite starting down in seventh position, Tom Ingram was absolutely the favourite. He opted to use the soft tyres in race two while everyone ahead of him chose the medium. Ingram made up four places in three corners and was already up to third position whilst Hill and Lloyd scrapped for the early lead. Hill led the race on lap one but was under pressure from Lloyd and Ingram.
The race one winner couldn’t hold off Ingram as he got past on the brakes into Brooklands. He would try a similar move for the lead a lap later but with more resistance from Hill. It was only a matter of time until the Team Vertu Hyundai would take the lead. Ingram made good use of his generous turbo boost allowance and pulled clear of Hill down the Wellington straight.
With Ingram in the lead, it was crucial that Sutton tried his best to minimise the damage. The four time champion was up to third place, passing Shedden, Proctor, Moffat and Lloyd by lap five.
Chilton in trouble
Tom Chilton ended race two in the gravel on the exit of Luffield corner. Chilton started race two from 20th position after a puncture saw him drop out of contention. He was having a stellar first eight laps as he had already climbed 10 places from his starting position. But, as he attempted a pass on Charles Rainford, he made contact which damaged the front right corner of his Hyundai.
The safety car was called upon to clear Chilton’s car from the gravel on lap 10. This closed the field back up after Ingram soared away from the rest of the pack. Racing got back underway on lap 14 with Sutton instantly attacking Hill. A dramatic moment for Adam Morgan came when his bonnet flew open down the Wellington Straight. This took him out of a top 10 position. Sutton managed to find his way past Hill on lap 16 as he dived down the inside into Brooklands. However, Ingram had already pulled a 1.7 second gap to Sutton, leaving him settling for second place.
There was a chaotic battle for 10th position between five cars. Josh Cook was at the head of the group but Sam Osbourne and Daryl Deleon were battling hard behind him. Deleon tried to go around the outside into Brooklands but made contact with Osbourne on his inside which sent the latter sideways. He managed to correct the slide and only drop two places.
Rowbottom’s hard work undone
Dan Rowbottom had an unlucky end to race two as his Napa Ford slowed on the Wellington Straight. He was sitting in fourth position, poised to gain points over his teammate Dan Cammish who he is battling for third place in the championship with. This promoted the hard chargers Aron Taylor-Smith and Charles Rainford up to fourth and fifth position. That put Taylor-Smith up to seven places gained for the race and Rainford up to nine.
But no one could pass Tom Ingram as he claimed a sixth win of the season in dominant fashion. Sutton followed him home almost three seconds adrift with Hill rounding out the podium.
The reverse grid draw was conducted by Formula One Grand Prix winner John Watson. He pulled out the number 12 ball, the highest reverse grid number possible. This left Sam Osbourne on pole position with Mikey Doble alongside him.
Race Three: Osbourne takes maiden win in Silverstone finale
There was drama before the lights went out for race three as Daryl Deleon, who was due to start third, had to be wheeled off the grid with a suspected driveshaft issue. Sam Osbourne had a great chance of getting a result as he started on pole on the soft tyres. The next car on the soft tyres would be teammate Ash Sutton all the way down in 11th place. Sutton needed to have a good result as he started ahead of Ingram and on the better tyres.
Osbourne got a brilliant getaway and pulled a number of car lengths clear at the end of lap one. The soft tyre running Sutton was already up to sixth place by the end of lap one with Ingram just behind him.
It was not a good start for Restart Racing as both their cars got into trouble on the first lap. They sat in 19th and 18th place but with plenty of time to make up some ground.
There was a change for second position on lap two as Josh Cook passed Mikey Doble on the exit of Luffield.
Lap six saw Ingram pass Doble for sixth position as he now chases after Sutton and Hill ahead. Sutton was sitting in third position and now just had Cook and Osbourne ahead. Cook had set the fastest lap in his pursuit of Osbourne and was within striking distance of the Napa Ford.
Crucial battles for title contenders
Hill, Ingram and Rowbottom were all having a close fight for fifth place. Ingram tried to pass Hill down the pit straight and was squeezed towards the pit wall. Ingram was ahead at the apex but Hill fought back and had the inside for the Becket’s Hairpin. The pair rubbed wheels which allowed Rowbottom to sweep through and he put himself in the middle of Ingram and Hill.
Cook was right on the back of Osbourne on lap 12 and really pressured the driver chasing his first BTCC victory. Osbourne had to defend the inside into Beckets on lap 16 and then had to fend off a dive into Brooklands but that was Cook’s best challenge of the race as the gap fluctuated for the remaining laps. Cook really fell away on lap 20 after a big slide at Luffield left him 1.5 seconds back from Osbourne.
After completing his 200th race earlier in the day, Osbourne finally gets to stand on the top step of the podium for the first time in his BTCC career. Josh Cook followed him behind in second place for Toyota. Sutton settled for third position and banked good points over Ingram.
Hill managed to fend off the championship leader for fourth place as Ingram came home in fifth. Aiden Moffat claimed one of his best results this season in sixth. He was followed by three high risers in Adam Morgan, Tom Chilton and Dan Cammish. All of which climbed up 12 positions in the 22 laps.
Restart Racing crowned Independant Teams Champions
It’s been a brilliant season for Restart Racing and they capped off a day where they claimed their first overall BTCC win by wrapping up the Independant Teams Championship. But, their drivers are still in a competative battle for individual honours. Lloyd leads the independant drivers standings into Brands Hatch with Power Maxed Racing’s Mikey Doble just five points behind. Chris Smiley is also still in contention, just 13 points adrift of Lloyd.
Three to go…
Three races remain in the 2025 BTCC season and Tom Ingram sits at the head of the field. He can only be denied a second BTCC title by Ash Sutton who he has a 33 point buffer to. Sutton needs a lot of luck to come his way at Brands Hatch, which when we attended earlier in the season, was a BMW stronghold. In just two weeks time the 2025 champions will be crowned. But who will they be?