Two weeks ago, our Diagonal team headed to the legendary Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit for our client, the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), and its season finale.
Characterised by significant elevation changes, off-camber turns and punishing track limits – especially on the Grand Prix loop, which includes famous corners such as Hawthorn Bend, Dingle Dell Corner, and Stirling’s – Brands Hatch poses a daunting challenge but one that’s adored by drivers. Its balance of technical corners and high speeds sees the very best rise to the top year upon year, making it the perfect host for an edge-of-the-seat title showdown.
Having sat at the end of the BTCC calendar for over a decade, Brands Hatch has become synonymous with crowning champions, and in 2025, once again, the ‘TOCA tour’ rolled into Kent with the overall drivers’, manufacturers’, and teams’ titles, as well as the Jack Sears Trophy, Independent championships and the Goodyear Wingfoot Award, yet to be decided.
When our team descended on Brands Hatch last season as part of our ongoing delivery of a comprehensive PR, comms, content creation, and digital marketing package, which includes an on-the-ground press office, six drivers were in contention for title glory: Josh Cook, Colin Turkington, Dan Cammish, Ash Sutton, Tom Ingram, and Jake Hill. An exhilarating first two races of the weekend saw Ingram and Hill go into the final contest separated by only one point, and on a treacherous, damp track, it was Hill who emerged ahead, claiming second place and with it his maiden BTCC drivers’ title.
This year, it was a direct head-to-head between two fan-favourites: NAPA Racing UK’s Sutton, who sat second in the standings, and Team VERTU’s Ingram, who lay first. Separated by 33 points but 111 clear of Sutton’s teammate, Cammish, in third, the pair had been in a league of their own, solidifying themselves at the sharp end with consistent victories and podiums. It was Sutton who was hot out of the blocks and took an early lead, claiming back-to-back victories at Donington Park in April and backing up his strong start to 2025 with a further four podium finishes by the conclusion of race meeting three.
But the tides soon changed, and Ingram snatched control. The 32-year-old took his first win of the year at Thruxton as the 10th victor of the campaign, where he claimed two second-place finishes and came to blows with Sutton on track multiple times, igniting the one-on-one nature that characterised the second half of the year. The pair would go on to produce a record-breaking spectacular as the season matured, and traded just a singular point across the weekend at Silverstone in September as they reached their respective peaks of performance.
Our team looked towards maximising the media impact of two greats of the championship going head-to-head with bespoke press and digital content. We curated and distributed multiple press releases that digested the season so far and mapped out the battle that lay ahead, steadily shaping an engaging narrative around the finale. That was paired with an impactful social media strategy, which included eye-catching graphics and punchy video content, such as this trailer, which tied into a season-long theme that played into the popularity of the old-school TOCA Touring Cars game. Drivers have regularly gone head-to-head on our PlayStation throughout the year as part of our focused YouTube strategy, including Ingram and Sutton, who picked up the controllers at Silverstone.
While Sutton had his sights set on a record-breaking fifth BTCC title, Ingram’s lead was going to be tough to overcome – entering the finale, he had already surpassed the highest points tally ever recorded at that stage of the season and beaten his personal best of any campaign.
But neither man scored pole on Saturday in Kent: those honours went to West Surrey Racing’s Filipino youngster, Daryl DeLeon, who took his second pole position in as many weekends, and put himself in prime position to edge towards winning the Jack Sears Trophy. Ingram and Sutton would soon return to the sharp end, though, and with a brilliant drive from fifth on the grid, Ingram claimed his seventh victory of the year and secured an unassailable lead in the standings. He finished sixth in Round 30 on Sunday afternoon, thus taking his points tally to 462 and making his 2025 campaign the most successful in BTCC history.
Meanwhile, victory for Cammish in Round 28 and back-to-back podiums for Sutton in Rounds 29 and 30 helped NAPA Racing UK secure victory in the Teams’ Championship – albeit by a narrow two points – and a podium apiece for Team VERTU’s Tom Chilton and Adam Morgan saw the Manufacturers’ Championship swing the other way, with EXCELR8 / Hyundai emerging on top by only three points. Restart Racing’s Daniel Lloyd claimed the Independent Drivers’ Championship over the resilient Motor Parts Direct with Power Maxed Racing’s Mikey Doble, and DeLeon claimed the Jack Sears Trophy.
The celebrations soon began, and our team shifted its focus toward capturing what a second title meant to ‘Tingram’ and glory meant up and down the paddock. Quick turnaround social media, press, and video content saw the BTCC’s online pages light up, effectively maximising the conclusion of an enthralling season with an eclectic mix of astute analysis and emotional digital content.
But the final round of the season was also the last for one of the championship’s most popular drivers: Hill. After 12 years in the BTCC, he stepped out of a touring car for the last time, as he embarks on a career in international sports car racing. Our team aptly celebrated the 2024 champion’s time in the BTCC online and produced this long-form interview with the 31-year-old, which we distributed shortly after the weekend.
And so the 2025 BTCC season comes to an end. Filled with action and plenty of drama, it was one to remember. We’re already looking forward to being back on track!