“Unusually, all five BTCC support series are up for grabs”

Spectators at Brands Hatch this weekend are in for a real treat. While the British Touring Car Championship title battle will take centre stage (and you can read all about how that is shaping up on page 27), the support series are set to provide heaps of entertainment.

Unusually, all five championships are still up for grabs. In fact, since 2010, there has only been one other year where this was the case, in 2014. Usually, at least one series has already been settled and in 2013 three were already decided – with Dan Cammish romping to Formula Ford glory and Harry Woodhead strolling to the Ginetta Junior crown with two meetings still to go that year.

So there’s a lot riding on this weekend. And out of all the title battles the closest is in the Renault UK Clio Cup. It’s also the most controversial.

Tempers had already been frayed at times this year but things reached boiling point last time out at Silverstone. On the one hand it shows how much the drivers care about winning the title, but on the other there needs to be respect between the contenders and their teams. Sadly, we won’t get a resolution to the title battle at Brands though, with Paul Rivett’s controversial race-two exclusion and a penalty for Max Coates set to be reviewed by the National Court – after this weekend’s finale.

As things stand, Coates heads Rivett by six points, with James Dorlin one point further back. But it would be a completely different picture if Rivett and his WDE team are successful in court. Given the propensity for a dramatic conclusion, don’t completely rule out Dan Rowbottom even though he is 49 points adrift.

It’s certainly a frustration that fans will be leaving Brands uncertain as to who the champion is, but there should, in theory, be more clarity in the other four series.

Another very close fight is in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB. Dino Zamparelli, twice the bridesmaid, leads Tio Ellinas by eight points, while Tom Wrigley still has an outside chance of triumphing. Last year Charlie Eastwood won the title with an overtake on Tom Oliphant with three laps of the finale to go – and it could be that close again this year.

There was a new Ginetta Junior points leader at Silverstone as Louis Foster’s rich vein of form allowed him to usurp team-mate Adam Smalley. He now heads Smalley by 21 points, with third-placed Luke Browning just about in contention still, another 27 points further back. But with Foster having nine penalty points on his licence already this year, he needs to be inch-perfect to be sure of the title.

Charlie Ladell has a larger advantage in the GT4 Supercup with 42 points in hand over Carl Boardley, but most comfortable heading to Kent is Kiern Jewiss. The Double R driver has a 62-point gap to Ayrton Simmons in British Formula 4.

But there’s always plenty of surprises at the Brands finale and, even in that commanding position, Jewiss is far from guaranteed title glory this weekend.