If you didn't see the nail-biting Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship action at Brands Hatch last weekend then you need to watch ITV's highlights programme over the coming days. If you did watch the incredible BTCC finale last weekend, well then you know you need to see it all over again!

ITV4's final event highlights of the season will premier at 2:30pm tomorrow (Saturday 17 October) and repeated at 7:10am on Sunday morning on the same channel. ITV will broadcast the same show at 3am next Thursday morning. All three airings will also be streamed via www.itv.com.

That won't be the last of the BTCC 2015 action, however, as ITV will also screen an unmissable season review show (date TBC), which will include exclusive interviews and features. ITV Player will also have you covered by hosting the Brands Hatch and Season Review shows shortly after they've aired on television. To get yourself in the mood for tomorrow you can already watch the Silverstone event here.

To keep up with all the news directly from ITV make sure you visit www.itv.com/btcc or follow the team on Twitter via @ITVMotorsport.

"Congratulations to Gordon Shedden for the championship win, he was a deserved champ. Hopefully we can take it off him next year!"

That was the message from Motorbase Performance Team Manager Oly Collins after the Kent-based outfit came close to completing a hat-trick of wins at the Brands Hatch season finale.

Most of the attention at the weekend, and rightly so, was around the quite remarkable championship battle between five former champions, but Motorbase were busy making waves of their own by celebrating its most successful race weekend ever.

Mat Jackson was unstoppable on the iconic GP loop, opening the weekend with a commanding qualifying performance to claim his third successive pole and another new lap record. This before the former series runner-up went on to claim two outright race wins and a second placed finish during the final three races of 2015.

Coming so close to securing a dream trio of results on the Wrotham squad’s local circuit, Jackson’s sensational performance also saw him claim the accolade of achieving the highest number of points scored during a race weekend of the entire 2015 BTCC season.

The results saw the Motorbase Performance squad add an impressive collection of new records to its recent successes. Despite only contesting half of the season after returning to the BTCC grid at Snetterton in August, the Ford Focuses amassed an incredible seven independent race wins, four outright race wins and five further podiums across four race weekends.

Mat Jackson also ends 2015 having led more laps than any other driver this season and with the best qualifying average of the entire grid.

Whilst it's hard to point to any flaws in Motorbase's impressive return it should be noted that the team started each of the last four events with zero ballast, due its late entry to the 2015 season, unlike the championship challengers. Despite this Jackson proved his pace with maximum ballast during races two and three at Brands, leaving the team in buoyant mood ahead of a full title tilt in 2016.

“That was the perfect way to finish off this year," said Collins. "I think it’s fair to say we’ve shown everyone recently just how competitive we are. The second race win on full success ballast and soft tyres was the most rewarding and proved that we have a complete package that can win this championship given a full season.

“The impeccable reliability record again this year shows the true class of the team behind the scenes and Mat was simply in a league of his own this year. James has progressed well into a regular points scorer and will continue to improve given time I’m sure. Congratulations to Gordon Shedden for the championship win, he was a deserved champ. Hopefully we can take it off him next year!”

Mat Jackson is equally confident about the team's package heading into next season. “What an incredible weekend to end the season on," he enthused. "Obviously it was an amazing start to grab our third back-to-back pole in qualifying and then to go on to capitalise on that with two race wins and a second was a brilliant result for the team.

“The whole team has been working together so well this season and this weekend was the true reward for everyone involved. Hopefully we can carry this dominance into winter testing and come back next year with a full championship challenge.”

 

To celebrate Gordon Shedden's dramatic BTCC title winning success we've designed some CHAMPION wallpapers for you to download. Simply click the images below to download the high resolution versions:

Honda Yuasa Racing’s Gordon Shedden has been crowned the 2015 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Champion after producing a sensational drive in the final race of a dramatic season.

It was a contest that saw title rival Jason Plato surge into a commanding lead after Matt Neal’s Honda slid wide at Paddock Hill Bend on the opening tour, which meant Shedden had to finish in at least sixth position to claim the championship trophy.

The odds seemed stacked against the Scotsman, who started the race down in a lowly 19th place, but the Honda Civic Type R driver went on a relentless attack that would prove fruitful after 18 laps of nerve-racking action played out in front of a record 42,000 crowd.

Three safety car periods curtailed Plato’s getaway in the early stages, and also gave Shedden the chance to close in on his next target. Plato’s Team BMR RCIB Insurance team-mate Alain Menu did everything he could to hold up Gordon's charge as the pair touched on a number of occasions. A puncture for Menu’s VW unleashed the Fife-based racer, who then made move after startling move in what was undoubtedly one of the drives of his career.

He dismissed Sam Tordoff’s BMW with consummate ease to make it into the top ten, before carving his way by Andrew Jordan’s MG and Andy Priaulx’s BMW on lap ten.

Next up was Aron Smith’s VW with the Irishman looking to assist stablemate Plato. Shedden lined him up as the duo approached Clearways on lap 12 and when the VW ran slightly wide on the exit of the corner the Honda slipped down the inside. They ran side-by-side across the line with the roar from the crowd almost as deafening as the 30 flame-spitting BTCC machines performing in front of them. Shedden was through and now just needed one more place to clinch the most coveted prize in British motor sport.

That move came one tour later as Rob Collard’s BMW proved defenceless against Shedden’s ballast-free Honda, and he took another place in the shape of Adam Morgan’s WIX Racing Mercedes on the run up to Druids. An uncertain Shedden remained on the attack, however, and became embroiled in a further dispute for position with Jack Goff’s MG. Matt Neal eased his team-mate’s concern by slipping back to hand him fourth place and on the final lap Shedden eventually settled on his position.

Plato’s flawless display deserved victory as he crossed the line ahead of Mat Jackson’s Ford Focus and MG Triple Eight Racing’s Goff. While his 94th BTCC triumph extended his incredible victory record, it was unable to bring him his third title, but few could argue with Shedden’s performance in this race and throughout this unforgettable season.

The Honda Yuasa Racing crew lined the pitwall and the crowd rose to its feet as Shedden blasted across the line, seemingly in joyful tears, and the new 2015 BTCC champion was crowned.

Neal took fifth ahead of Morgan and Collard, Jordan, Smith and Priaulx completed the top ten order.

The day had begun with a dominant double for Motorbase Performance’s Mat Jackson as the Ford Focus proved the weapon of choice around the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit. The local team has enjoyed a stunning comeback to the BTCC having only entered at the midway stage of the season, as Jackson claimed four wins in the final two events.

Morgan took two third place finishes in the opening two bouts, while Team BMR RCIB Insurance’s Aron Smith and Speedworks’ Tom Ingram stood on the second step of the podium in races one and two respectively.

With the dust settling over another incredible tin-top season it was Shedden celebrating under the floodlights as he won the Drivers’ championship by just four points from Plato, with Neal beating Turkington to third in the standings. There was some joy for outgoing champion Turkington, however, as he claimed the Independent Drivers' championship, whilst Team BMR RCIB Insurance took Teams’ and Independents' Team honours.

There was double delight for Honda Yuasa Racing as it wrestled back the Manufacturers’ title from MG. Josh Cook’s first season in the BTCC with Power Maxed Racing proved a fantastic success as he won the Jack Sears Trophy for rookie drivers.

The 2016 campaign will blast into action at the Season Launch on 22 March before the season gets underway back at Brands Hatch in early April.

Gordon Shedden said: “I can’t believe it – I just can’t believe it! What an incredible day, what an incredible race! That’s touring car racing at its absolute best. To win it from that far back, I can’t believe it. It seemed like an impossible task but the Civic Type R was absolutely on fire with no ballast, I was just so desperate to win – wow! I’m almost lost for words, but the emotion is unbelievable. Sometimes the best way to keep it on the track is to keep pushing! To win it in the debut year of the Civic Type R and to get the manufacturers’ too is out of this world. It’s even more special than the first time.”

Jason Plato said: “It was close but no cigar. It’s been a great year for us, but we’ve been dogged with some bad luck to he honest. Had it not been for that we’d have won it, but that’s the way it goes. I understand defeat as well as victory, and the balls just didn’t roll our way. I’m pleased with our performance this weekend, and I’m pleased with my engineers – we’ve managed to make it a potentially championship-winning car. I’m signed for another two years with Team BMR and we have quite a few things in the pipeline – you’ll have to wait and see but there’s some exciting stuff.”

Matt Neal said: “It all worked out in the end didn’t it! It was a bit fraught for a while, but it’s just been a fantastic debut year for the Honda Civic Type R. Jason [Plato] got his skates on and we had a royal scrap behind him – no-one was rolling over and it was a good race. I’m so pleased for Flash and the team. We’ve got three nice big trophies to take back to the factory – the Drivers’, Manufacturers’ and third in Drivers’ – those are pretty special to take away.”

Colin Turkington said: “It’s the fifth time I’ve picked up the Independents’ trophy and it means a lot to me. Obviously you’re always gunning for the main prize, and I did my very best to defend my title this year. My back was against the wall but I can be proud I gave it 100 per cent effort; it’s all you can ask. For sure it’s been a great season for Team BMR – we’ve come away with a lot of trophies, and Jason [Plato] came very close to winning the title, so in year one it was a really top effort, we can all be proud. It always goes to the wire – nobody gets this championship easily, that’s why we all love it.”

Josh Cook said: “It’s been a really good season – to bring home the Jack Sears Trophy has been a target for us, and even though we wrapped it up with an overall podium at Rockingham it means so much to finally receive the trophy from the man himself! The first year in any championship is always a learning year and I’m with a new team too, so it was very much all of us learning together. For me and Dave [Newsham] to be so far towards the front is a real credit to what everyone has managed to do, and hopefully we’ll be back on the grid next year and build on what we’ve achieved.”

Alan Gow, BTCC Series Director, said: “What more could you ask for? It just goes to show that in the BTCC, it’s never over until it’s over. You come into the final race weekend and a lot of people were saying Gordon [Shedden] would just cruise around and get the title, but look what happened! In the end it came down to just one race for the championship, but the way that everything unfolded couldn’t have gone better. No-one disputes that he's an incredibly deserving champion. He’s driven superbly all year and in that last race – wow – the pressure he was under, he could have so easily slipped up, but he made it. Everyone in this pit lane is a winner; they have all done an incredible job this season. The fans came out in their droves this year and it was a record crowd that we had here at Brands Hatch today.”

 
2015 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Brands Hatch GP

 
Race 1

1. Mat JACKSON (Motorbase Performance): 18 Laps
2. Aron SMITH (Team BMR RCIB Insurance): +0.715s
3. Adam MORGAN (WIX Racing): +1.889s
4. Colin TURKINGTON (Team BMR RCIB Insurance): +3.920s
5. Jason PLATO (Team BMR RCIB Insurance): +5.696s
6. Gordon SHEDDEN (Honda Yuasa Racing): +7.260s

Race 2

1. Mat JACKSON (Motorbase Performance): 18 Laps
2. Tom INGRAM (Speedworks Motorsport): +0.350s
3. Adam MORGAN (WIX Racing): +1.460s
4. Dave NEWSHAM (Power Maxed Racing): +2.904s
5. Jack GOFF (MG Triple Eight Racing): +3.278s
6. Jason PLATO (Team BMR RCIB Insurance): +3.588s

Race 3

1. Jason PLATO (Team BMR RCIB Insurance): 18 Laps
2. Mat JACKSON (Motorbase Performance): +3.536s
3. Jack GOFF (MG Triple Eight Racing): +8.954s
4. Gordon SHEDDEN (Honda Yuasa Racing): +9.086s
5. Matt NEAL (Honda Yuasa Racing): +9.564s
6. Adam MORGAN (WIX Racing): +10.079s

Click here for the final classification from the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship races at Brands Hatch GP.

Penalties

Eurotech Racing received a ten-point penalty for changing engines over the maximum number permitted.

Race two:
Alain Menu received a verbal warning for an incident involving another competitor.

Click here to view the full classification from the final event of the season.

Mat Jackson blitzed the Brands Hatch GP qualifying lap record on his way to a third consecutive Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship pole position today (10 October).

Team BMR RCIB Insurance’s Aron Smith and WIX Racing’s Adam Morgan were second and third respectively, but it was Gordon Shedden that led the championship challenging quintet in the final qualifying session of the BTCC season.

Shedden's Honda Civic Type R – carrying maximum success ballast – was some way down the order in the early stages as the Scotsman’s closest rivals flew to the top of the timesheets. Team BMR RCIB Insurance’s VWs initially held a 1-2-3 but Colin Turkington and Jason Plato eventually had to settle for fifth and sixth respectively. Plato made one last attempt to move further up the order but he ran wide at Graham Hill Bend on his final tour which put paid to any chances of improvement.

Despite Turkington and Plato’s obvious frustrations at not being able to qualify ahead of championship leader Shedden, it does mean that the championship top three will line-up together on the grid for tomorrow’s opener. A final day of no-holds-barred racing looks assured with Plato and Turkington needing to overcome a significant points deficit to Shedden over the course of Sunday’s triple header.

Tom Ingram’s Speedworks Toyota claimed seventh ahead of Honda’s Matt Neal, who himself still harbours intentions of claiming his fourth BTCC title.

The IHG Rewards Club BMW of Andy Priaulx and Power Maxed Racing’s Josh Cook were at the very sharp end of the times at mid-session before both faded late on to finish ninth and tenth respectively.

The flickering title hopes of MG Triple Eight Racing’s Andrew Jordan – currently fifth in the standings – will not have been helped as the 2013 champion could only manage 13th on the grid as he struggled with set-up on his Pirtek Racing MG.

Such has been the rate of development up and down the BTCC pitlane in recent times that the top 12 drivers dipped under the previous qualifying lap record.

The Drivers’ championship picture sees Shedden (325 points) holding an advantage over Plato (302), whilst Turkington (293), Neal (288) and Jordan (261) ensure that the title will be fought out between five former champions on the final day of the 2015 BTCC season. It’s all still play for with 66 points on offer and the BTCC, as ever, is likely to provide plenty of thrills and spills before this year’s champion is crowned.

Honda holds a commanding lead in the Manufacturers’ order, whilst Team BMR RCIB Insurance is close to securing both the Teams’ and Independent Teams’ titles. Turkington tops the Independent Drivers’ table and Josh Cook holds an unassailable lead in the Jack Sears Trophy.

Rounds 28, 29 and 30 of the 2015 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship take place at Brands Hatch tomorrow. A huge crowd is expected to descend on the legendary Kent circuit with many more set to watch the action live on ITV4 from 10:15am.

Mat Jackson said: “We’d had a lean spell in terms of qualifying so to come back really strong and get three in a row is fantastic. We’ve got our own race to run tomorrow – hopefully we can pull a gap and get a win in the opening race. It won’t be easy, however, as Aron [Smith] and others will obviously be fighting hard. The championship race is not for us to interfere in but we’ll just be trying to get the right results for our team, and hopefully that includes a victory.”

Gordon Shedden said: “We were hanging it out there to get that kind of time with the ballast onboard, so I am really chuffed with that. The car felt good in qualifying and it should be good over a race distance too. Jason [Plato] is only just behind us though , Colin [Turkington] and Matt [Neal] too, so we’re all in a bit of a gaggle. We’ve got to play it by ear and see how the day develops. It’s going to be tough that’s for sure, but we obviously hope and believe we can get the job done.”

Jason Plato said: “We’re losing time in the straights to Colin [Turkington] but we can’t quite work out exactly what it is. I am getting pretty much all I can out of the car. We can’t compete with Mat [Jackson] and Aron [Smith] when they’re not carrying any weight so we’re about where we should be. Gordon [Shedden] needs to have some bad luck tomorrow, like we’ve had in the past, because he has too much of a buffer. You never know – I got a puncture here earlier in the season with one lap to go and that sort of thing can happen to anyone. I’m not fired up for that to happen to him because I’m fired up anyway – let’s just see how it goes.”

Colin Turkington said: “I am pleased with that performance. I gave it 110% and I was right on the limit. I improved on my second run to get it up to fifth, but it’s just so hard on a circuit like this, with high and low speed corners, to get the perfect lap. I feel we got pretty close and we’re in the mix for tomorrow. You’d always like to be higher but it’s also so easy to qualify outside the top ten, so we have to be happy with that. It’s not critical to get by Gordon [Shedden] in race one but we obviously need to make up 32 points over the course of the day – the sooner we do that the better.”

Matt Neal said: “I didn’t leave anything on the table but I just can’t believe how close it is out there. The car feels great but I was just about a tenth of a second too slow. It’ll be an interesting race day – we’re all running different strategies with tyres so we’ll see how it pans out. I plan to get my head down and get some points – I want to get strong finishes for myself and the team, and hopefully that means getting by Jason [Plato] and Colin [Turkington].”

Andrew Jordan said: “There was something fundamentally wrong with the car which is making it really unpredictable – not what you want on the Brands Hatch GP circuit! It’s just not consistent enough so I don’t feel like I can push, which is why we’re further down than we should be. We’ll have to hope for some fireworks at the front tomorrow and then play the long game. If we can find what’s wrong then we should be able to work our way up – hopefully we’ll be in the position to end the season on the podium.”

Click here for the final classification from qualifying for Round 2 of the 2015 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship.

2015 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship contenders hit the front during free practice two at Brands Hatch as Colin Turkington topped team-mate Jason Plato and Honda Yuasa Racing's Gordon Shedden.

Reigning champion Turkington led the way for much of the running and improved his own benchmark shortly after mid-distance – his 1.31.302s lap time falling just a tenth shy of Jason Plato's qualifying lap record from 2013.

Plato and Shedden could barely be separated during qualifying – as has been the case for much of the season – with the Team BMR RCIB Insurance driver getting the upper hand this time by just 0.001s. Shedden's Honda Civic Type R still looked to be in fine form as the Scotsman aborted at least one other flying lap, which was set to be on a similar pace.

Team IHG Rewards Club star Andy Priaulx clocked the fourth fastest time ahead of Jack Goff's MG. Both drivers enjoyed their experience driving on the Indy circuit at the start of the 2015 season, with Priaulx's BMW taking pole position while Goff took his first podium of the campaign, and it seems the Grand Prix layout is also to their liking.

Andrew Jordan was just 0.052s behind his MG Triple Eight Racing team-mate, whilst Tom Ingram's Speedworks Toyota pipped Mat Jackson's Motorbase Ford to seventh.

Honda's Matt Neal took ninth ahead of series returnee Alain Menu, who completed the top ten order. The Swiss superstar is taking part in his first BTCC race weekend of the season, due to the back injury sustained at Silverstone by regular racer Warren Scott. Despite missing FP1 with a power steering problem the double BTCC champion dusted off the cobwebs in record time, as he pushed his VW inside the top ten. While Menu will be hoping to get his own good results this weekend he has also admitted that he'll be on hand to help his Team BMR RCIB Insurance team-mates where possible. With Plato and Turkington looking to close in on championship leader Shedden, Menu could play an important role during the weekend.

The final and arguably most important qualifying session of the 2015 BTCC season takes places at 15:40 later today and will be streamed live and exclusively via www.itv.com/btcc.

2015 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship - Brands Hatch GP - Free Practice 2 Classification:

1 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMR RCIB Insurance
2 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Honda Yuasa Racing
3 Jason PLATO (GBR) Team BMR RCIB Insurance
4 Andy PRIAULX (GBR) Team IHG Rewards Club
5 Jack GOFF (GBR) MG 888 Racing
6 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) MG 888 Racing
7 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport
8 Mat JACKSON (GBR) Motorbase Performance
9 Matt NEAL (GBR) Honda Yuasa Racing
10 Alain MENU (SUI) Team BMR RCIB Insurance
11 Dave NEWSHAM (GBR) Power Maxed Racing
12 Aron SMITH (IRL) Team BMR RCIB Insurance
13 Mike BUSHELL (R) (GBR) AmD Tuning.com
14 Robert COLLARD (GBR) JCT600 Racing with GardX
15 Adam MORGAN (GBR) WIX Racing
16 Martin DEPPER (GBR) Eurotech Racing
17 Josh COOK (R) (GBR) Power Maxed Racing
18 Sam TORDOFF (GBR) JCT600 Racing with GardX
19 Jeff SMITH (GBR) Eurotech Racing
20 James COLE (GBR) Motorbase Performance
21 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing
22 Tony GILHAM (GBR) RCIB Insurance Racing
23 Hunter ABBOTT (GBR) Exocet AlcoSense
24 Jake HILL (GBR) AmD Tuning.com
25 Alex MARTIN (R) (GBR) Dextra Racing
26 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) Exocet AlcoSense
27 Simon BELCHER (GBR) Handy Motorsport
28 Stewart LINES (R) (GBR) Houseman Racing
29 Derek PALMER (R) (GBR) Support Our Paras Racing
30 Daniel WELCH (GBR) Welch Motorsport

Click here for the full classification from FP2.