Cobra Sport AmD Autoaid/RCIB Insurance’s Rory Butcher claimed victory in the final BTCC encounter at Brands Hatch after Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher’s Tom Chilton was handed a post-race penalty.

Chilton crossed the finish line first on-the-road but in a post-race appeal was adjudged to have gained an advantage during contact with Matt Neal’s Honda. Chilton failed to give the position back during the race itself and was therefore penalised by the addition of five seconds being added to his overall race time, handing Butcher with his first ever BTCC win.

Stephen Jelley incredibly took the lead when his BMW 125i M Sport blitzed from sixth on the grid and straight into P1 by the time the cars exited Druids for the first time, but he soon had Halfords Yuasa Racing’s Neal on his tail.

Neal’s Honda Civic Type R – running the softer Dunlop SportMaxx tyre – had the initial pace and was able to slip by Jelley at Clearways on lap seven. Chilton then repeated the trick at the same corner one lap later, and Jelley was now down to third.

Action further back saw two of today’s big hitters forced out of contention when contact between Jake Hill’s Audi and Ash Sutton’s Subaru sent the latter’s car spiralling into the barrier at Graham Hill Bend. 

Two laps later and Chilton was at the head of the field as Neal’s tyres began to lose their ultimate pace. Chilton’s Ford Focus seemingly clinched the position across the start/finish line on lap 13, but not before the contact was made resulting in the post-race penalty.

Neal’s speed continued to dip and it all came to head when contact with Jelley’s BMW sent the Honda sideways through Clearways, allowing the charging Rory Butcher past both of them in the older shaped Civic Type R, a move that would ultimately hand him victory.

Jelley and Neal continued their scrap and the latter faced last lap heartache when a wheel problem forced him to slow dramatically. Jelley went on to grab a hugely popular podium – his first since winning at Rockingham in 2009 and the first ever for Team Parker Racing in the BTCC.

Josh Cook took fourth and with it the overall lead in the Drivers’ standings, whilst Team BMW duo Colin Turkington and Tom Oliphant were next in the order.

Chris Smiley provided yet more joy for BTC Racing with seventh, which was just reward for the Northern Irishman after a day fighting back through the field following his race one accident.

Neal had to settle for eighth at the finish, with Aiden Moffat (Laser Tools Racing) and Tom Ingram (Team Toyota GB with Ginsters) completing the top ten.