Collard had led since depriving reversed-grid polesitter Bobby Thompson of first position on the opening lap, but notification of his penalty came through a few laps from the finish, while Sutton was breathing down his neck.
Undeterred, the duo fought on, and Sutton’s Motorbase Performance Ford got an overlap on the Speedworks Motorsport Toyota of Collard as they raced onto the final lap, crossing the start-finish line just in front despite being edged onto the grass.
Sutton got ahead into Paddock Hill Bend, but Collard fought back at Druids to reclaim the lead and crossed the finish line 0.200 seconds in front.
But what would have been Collard’s first BTCC victory was converted into eighth position, although he would likely have been classified two positions higher had it not been for his last-ditch battle with Sutton that cost both time.
Sutton, despite having the biggest restriction on hybrid usage for his victory in race two, had fought into contention from his sixth-row start.
He was into the top six by the end of the opening lap, fourth by lap two, and then passed Rory Butcher’s Speedworks Toyota on the third tour.
Two laps later he got in front of Thompson’s Team Hard Cupra Leon at Clearways and was up to second.
Collard, who like Sutton was on the soft option tyre, had a bagful of hybrid and used this to keep out of the three-time champion’s reach, but with three laps remaining both were down to just two more hybrid boosts, allowing Sutton to make his attack.
“The plan was to try and lock in that fastest lap, and I needed to pass people as well, so I used hybrid to do that,” said Sutton.
“Once I was in clear air, with just Ricky and Bobby ahead, I settled down.
“The car came in alive in race two with a few changes we made, and it was just on rails – it’s so fast.”
There was plenty of drama behind the leading trio. Jake Hill had worked his way up to fourth spot in his West Surrey Racing-run BMW 330e M Sport by half-distance, but a left-rear puncture pitched him into a spin at Paddock Hill Bend and sent him to the pits.
Tom Ingram therefore moved up to take fourth on the road, third in the results, in his Excelr8 Motorsport Hyundai i30 N.
Continuing the Speedworks Toyota disaster, both George Gamble and Rory Butcher appeared solidly locked into top-six positions when they suffered a puncture and engine failure respectively.
All this elevated Dan Cammish’s Motorbase Ford and Colin Turkington’s WSR BMW to fourth and fifth in the results respectively as the leading two runners using the medium Goodyear tyre. Cammish continues to lead the points standings.
Up to sixth came another WSR BMW, that of Adam Morgan, to cap a fine comeback from his crashes in qualifying and race one, one spot ahead of the Excelr8 Hyundai of Tom Chilton.
Josh Cook was running ahead of Cammish when he went off at Paddock on Butcher’s oil – he recovered to 10th, behind Collard and the Motorbase Ford of Dan Rowbottom in the results, in his One Motorsport Honda Civic Type R.
BTCC Brands Hatch Race 3 Results (24 laps):
| Cla | Driver | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Ashley Sutton |
19'44.696 |
| 2 | Bobby Thompson | 0.948 |
| 3 | Tom Ingram |
5.901 |
| 4 | Dan Cammish |
7.623 |
| 5 | Colin Turkington |
8.457 |
| 6 | Adam Morgan |
9.507 |
| 7 | Tom Chilton |
9.682 |
| 8 | Ricky Collard |
9.800 |
| 9 | Daniel Rowbottom |
10.680 |
| 10 | Josh Cook |
11.677 |
| 11 | Daniel Lloyd |
11.953 |
| 12 | Aiden Moffat |
15.352 |
| 13 | Ronan Pearson | 20.399 |
| 14 | Sam Osborne |
21.909 |
| 15 | Dexter Patterson | 24.073 |
| 16 | Mikey Doble | 24.648 |
| 17 | Jack Butel | 25.225 |
| 18 | Will Powell | 33.652 |
| 19 | Nicolas Hamilton | 37.944 |
| 20 | Nick Halstead | 38.319 |
| 21 | George Gamble | 1 lap |
| 22 | Jake Hill |
2 laps |
| 23 | Andrew Watson |
2 laps |
| 24 | Stephen Jelley |
2 laps |
| 25 | Rory Butcher |
10 laps |
| 26 | Jade Edwards | 22 laps |
| View full results | ||
