Around the British Championships: 8-9 October 2022
Three more British Championships were wrapped up last weekend, including a blockbuster finale to the British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch.
Here’s our latest round-up of all the action:
British Touring Car Championship – Brands Hatch GP
Tom Ingram claimed a maiden British Touring Car Championship title after winning out in a thrilling four-way scrap for the crown in the UK’s premier tin-top series at Brands Hatch.
The EXCELR8 driver claimed a dominant pole position on board his Hyundai i30 on Saturday afternoon, threading his way around the 2.4-mile Grand Prix layout nearly half a second faster than nearest challenger Rory Butcher.
From there, he charged to victory in the opening two races, out-scoring fellow contenders Jake Hill, Ash Sutton, and Colin Turkington to head into the finale 11 points ahead.
The tension was palpable, but Ingram held his nerve under pressure to finish fifth behind Sutton, two places ahead of Hill, and secure the coveted crown for the very first time.
ROKiT F4 British Championship certified by FIA – Brands GP
Alex Dunne formally wrapped up the 2022 ROKiT British F4 title on a final weekend that saw Joseph Loake take a double victory, and Eduardo Coseteng his maiden win.
After blitzing his way to pole position, JHR driver Loake went unchallenged in both the first and third races, ending the season with four wins, a number second only to Hitech GP ace Dunne, who was crowned champion by dint of Ollie Gray’s qualifying position, and the lack thereof of overtaking points.
His victories book-ended a reverse grid triumph for Coseteng, who held firm despite race-long pressure from Virtuosi’s Michael Shin.
McLaren junior Ugo Ugochukwu triumphed in the Rookie Cup, with his Carlin team victorious for a fifth time in the Teams Cup.
British Sprint Championship – Castle Combe
Matt Hillam was crowned the 2022 British Sprint Champion at Castle Combe, despite finishing second to nearest rival Terry Holmes in both run-offs.
Holmes entered the weekend ten points ahead of Hillam, but dropped scores put the latter in a position to win the championship, should he finish directly behind Holmes’ 3.5-litre Lola Tegra Judd on both occasions around the Wiltshire circuit.
The gap between them was 1.2 seconds after the first run-off, Holmes setting the benchmark pace with a 114.5s. Hillam reduced the arrears to 0.96s in the season finale, enough to seal him the coveted crown on board his 2-litre Dallara F399.