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BTCC Race Three

Our six-round BTCC championship came down to this race. An A Final win for either Mike or Andy would clinch the title. In fact, Mike only needed to finish ahead of Andy to be crowned champion - although neither could give too much ground to Alex. The maths were not in Alex's favour, but an A Final victory would require the others to make the podium. And the reverse grid did make this interesting, with Mike and Alex starting in the C Final and Andy in the B - all carrying 'success ballast' power reductions from Race Two. There was no room for slip-ups.

   

We started with the D Final, where Kev and Duncan were looking for their first points of the day. They sat in fourth and fifth after four laps, behind Stephen, Terry and Isaac. Stephen maintained his lead at half distance, with Isaac moving ahead of Terry for second. Kev was still clinging on to the final points position in fourth. And that's how it stayed at the end - Stephen and Isaac getting the step-ups and Kev finishing on the lead lap to add one point to his championship tally. Duncan would finish the season on null points.

   

Mike and Alex were under pressure in the C Final. Each had to finish in the top two or their championship hopes were over. Simon, Jeremy, Stephen and Isaac all planned to make the next 16 laps difficult. Alex led Mike after four laps, but the other four were close behind. By half distance, Stephen had been dropped. However, there was no rest for Alex and Mike - any mistake would drop them behind Jeremy, Simon and Isaac. In the end, the championship contenders made it through, although Simon hung on with his best race of the day, finishing on the same lap.

   

The B Final was a veritable pressure cooker. Andy had another poor start, but had soon worked himself up to third behind Alex and Mike - the championship three were going through. However, the pressure ratcheted up even more with a red flag for a short circuit and the race had to be restarted. This time, Alex was left on the line, the others driving slowly expecting another restart, but then the grey BMW got going. The race was on.

Championship-leader Andy led the way and managed a clean 16 laps for the first time since November's Race Two. Alex was running on 100% adrenaline and scythed through the field, eventually catching and passing Andy near the end. Oliver was also driving brilliantly and had kept Mike behind him all race. Starting the final lap, it was all-or-nothing for Mike - his BTCC-style lunge into the hairpin nerfed Oliver into the barriers and gave Mike a route into the championship-showdown. Oliver was furious, but kept going. Then the last lap drama went stratospheric as Mike rolled his BMW into the final complex, allowing Oliver to nip through and reclaim third place. Unbelievably, Mike was stranded in the B Final and out of a championship fight that he seemed favourite to win.

   

As the six drivers lined up for the A Final, the championship picture was clear - Alex could still win the championship if he won the race, took fastest lap (he already had a 12:789 from that frantic B Final) and Andy finished out of the podium places. Given today's form book, that didn't seem out of the question. At the front of the reverse grid, Ollie, Dean and Ash all had a chance of a momentous result and some big championship points. After four laps of the race, there was nothing in it - Alex led Andy, followed closely by Dean, Ash, Ollie and Oliver. By half distance, Oliver and Ash had been lapped, but the other four were still close - Alex leading Andy, Dean and Ollie. Andy remained one mistake away from losing the championship.

From shadowing Alex, Andy had to shift to defence in the second half of the race - Dean attacked him relentlessly, getting past at one point, then falling back and attacking again. Andy kept his cool, knowing that third was enough for the title. Ollie was still in fourth after 12 laps, but had lost touch with the battle for second place. At the front, Alex eased off, bringing the BMW home and hoping that the battle between the two grey Civics would deliver some high drama. As the chequered flag fell, Alex had done everything in his power by taking the win and fastest lap (from the B Final) - but it wasn't enough for the championship. Andy came in ahead of Dean, winning his first WHO BTCC title by a mere three points!

   

Here are the stats from the race...

   
Click to make it bigger

And the final championship table...

   

What an exciting BTCC season that was!

That just left us the Muscle Car Mondiale format to end the day - and the year - at the Barn...