Sutton clinches BTCC title as Butcher wins finale

Laser Tools Racing's Ash Sutton prevailed in treacherous conditions to clinch his second British Touring Car Championship drivers' title, as Rory Butcher won the last race of the season at Brands Hatch.

Amidst the torrential conditions, Sutton finished the final race of 2020 in sixth, which was good enough to hand the Infiniti Q50 driver a second career BTCC drivers' title, with outgoing champion Colin Turkington conceding defeat in ninth position.

At one point during the early part of the race, a fightback looked on for Turkington as the Team BMW driver rose as high as fifth, while Sutton found himself languished down in tenth.

However, it didn't take long for Sutton to draw closer and closer to his nearest championship rival, as Turkington struggled to maintain pace and move forward in fifth.

By lap nine, the two championship protagonists were to nose-to-tail in seventh and eighth, and after laps of stalking his prey, Sutton made the move past Turkington to all but seal the crown.

All the while, Butcher controlled the race in dominant fashion after a heated battle for the remaining podium positions involving Josh Cook, Jake Hill, Adam Morgan, Tom Ingram and Dan Cammish allowed the Ford driver to gallop away in the distance.

Ingram ultimately took second place for the second race in succession after picking his way through the top-five after moments of contact between Cook, Hill and Morgan.

Butcher eventually crossed the line 1.5s ahead of Ingram to record a commanding win for the Motorbase Performance outfit.

Honda's Dan Cammish finished just off the podium in fourth, while Adam Morgan marked his final appearance with the Mercedes A-Class in fifth ahead of the newly crowned champion Sutton in sixth.