SUPPORT RACES

All five British Touring Car support championships were up for grabs heading to the Brands Hatch finale, but only two went down to the last race and it was the Mini Challenge battle that proved most dramatic. Dan Zelos, the table-topper for much of the season, bounced back from a tricky qualifying to finish fifth, two spots behind team-mate Max Bird, in the opener, while fourth place to Bird’s third in race two meant it all came down to the final contest with

Bird just three points ahead on dropped scores. Both were involved in a nail-biting six-car lead squabble through a thrilling race, with Zelos edging past Jack Davidson on the run to the line to take second and the title, while Bird was fifth. Up front, Lewis Brown won the first two races and Max Coates took glory in the third.

There were also three points between Dan Cammish and Lorcan Hanafin in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB battle heading into the last race, after Hanafin triumphed in a dramatic opener when Harry King clattered into Kiern Jewiss. But a straightforward run to third in race two, while Hanafin spun, meant that Cammish sealed a third Porsche series crown.

Matthew Rees’ path to British Formula 4 glory was surprisingly straightforward. A spin for closest rival Matias Zagazeta proved costly, meaning fifth places in the first two races sealed Rees the honours. The final wins of the RacingLineoperated, Ford-powered, Mygale-chassised F4 era were taken by McKenzy Cresswell and Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak.

Aston Millar sealed the Ginetta Junior championship with a win in a shortened opener – on a weekend dominated by red flags and safety cars – after passing Robert de Haan on the outside of Hawthorn. Millar won race two as well, while runnerup Liam McNeilly ended the year on a high in race three.

Fifth and fourth places in the first two encounters allowed Adam Smalley to secure the Ginetta GT4 Supercup crown. Both of these races were won by guesting James Kellett, before Tom Emson took his maiden triumph in the finale.