Front of the Grid

After Colin Turkington wrapped up the 2009 BTCC title at Brands Hatch yesterday, all eyes began to turn to next season.

What do we know so far? Vauxhall will not return, and Triple Eight have put their Vectras up for sale. Bamboo will return with two Lacettis, with Harry Vaulkhard staying on as a driver. Elsewhere, very little is known so far.

Vauxhall's exit makes it very likely that Matt Neal will return to the family-run Team Dynamics. Father and team boss Steve Neal said yesterday that Matt will test for them at Snetterton on Wednesday. He also added that he is hoping to secure more backing from Honda to allow the team to expand. A decision by Honda is expected in the next ten days. Johnny Herbert and Dave Pinkney will both be looking to stay on with the team.

We can expect Team RAC and Airwaves BMW to return, although RML look less certain to want to run full-time programmes in both the BTCC and WTCC unless a big sponsor is found. That could leave Jason Plato and Mat Jackson joining Andrew Jordan in looking for drives. Hopefully RAC and Airwaves can find the backing to run three drivers each.

Team Aon will also look likely to return with Tom Chilton and Tom Onslow-Cole, and there was talk of them having three cars before this season, so hopefully they could also find the money for a third car.

Triple Eight could of course find another project in the BTCC, although don't expect Neal or Fabrizio Giovanardi to stay without a paid-drive. Tech-Speed has shown promise with the ageing Honda Integra's this season, and have had a good partnership with Triple Eight before, so we could see them running the Vectra's with a stronger driver lineup.

What do you think? Who will go where in 2010? Please share your view by leaving a comment below.

Colin Turkington has won the 2009 British Touring Car Championship after finishing in second place in the final race of the season at Brands Hatch.

Jason Plato won the race, becoming only the second driver to win all three races on one day, after Dan Eaves at Thruxton in 2005. It meant that Plato beat Fabrizio Giovanardi to the runner-up spot in the standings.

Polesitter Matt Neal lost the lead to Jonathan Adam on the opening lap, only for the two to make contact that resulted in Adam spinning off the track. Just behind, contact between Chilton and Adam's teammate Rob Collard resulted in Collard spinning into the barriers.

Turkington soon found himself in-between leader Neal and third-placed Giovanardi. With Neal backing the field up to assist Giovanardi, Turkington made a move on Neal at Druids to take the lead, with Giovanardi and Plato soon following through. Turkington had suffered minor damage passing Neal, and he found himself under immense pressure from Giovanardi, with the two clashing out of clearways, allowing Plato to take the lead. Turkington and Giovanardi clashed again on the following lap, allowing Chilton to pass the Italian and seperate them until the finish.

Turkington's title is the first overall BTCC title for experienced squad West Surrey Racing. The Northern Irishman also won the Independent Drivers' title for the third year in a row. The race also marked the last in the series for Vauxhall, the sole remaining manufacturer. However, for as long as the action remains this exciting, the BTCC will always have a strong future.

Full Results

Jason Plato won the second race of the day to lead home fellow title contenders Fabrizio Giovanardi and Colin Turkington, setting up a fantastic championship showdown for race three.

Plato, who had earlier won the first race of the day, lost out to Team Aon's Tom Chilton off the start, and had to wait until the closing stages to make his move at Druids. Giovanardi then also got past Chilton, while series leader Turkington made his way through from eighth on the grid to complete the podium.

The two Airwaves BMWs passed the other Vauxhalls of Matt Neal and Andrew Jordan early on, and Turkington was also able to get past Neal. Neal continued to pressure Turkington, until Paul O'Neill was able to force Neal wide at Druids, releasing Turkington to attack Jordan. He was able to pass Jordan, Chilton and the Airwaves BMWs of Jonny Adam and Rob Collard to finish third.

The result means that Turkington will go into the final race of the season with a four point advantage over Giovanardi, with Plato a further eight points back. They will start in 6th, 7th and 8th respectively, with Matt Neal on pole position. You can catch the race at around 17:10 live on ITV4.

Full Results

Sebastien Loeb has completed a straightforward victory on Rally Catalunya, reducing the gap to championship leader Mikko Hirvonen to one point ahead of the final round in Wales in three weeks time.

Loeb was behind Citroen teammate and home favourite Dani Sordo until late on Saturday, when he provided little resistance to Loeb's bid for victory. Hirvonen finished in third place, meaning that whoever finishes ahead out of Loeb and Hirvonen on Rally GB will be crowned champion, Loeb bidding for a sixth straight World Rally title.

Petter Solberg had a strong rally, finishing fourth in his first event in a Citroen C4, having switched from his outdated Xsara. Sebastien Ogier finished fifth, ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala.

Dave has highlights of the whole event at 6pm this evening.

Jason Plato denied Tom Chilton and Team Aon their first win of the season as he passed the Ford on the run to the finish line in the first race of the day at Brands Hatch.

Chilton had led Plato from pole position but was under continued pressure from Plato, until the end of the final lap when he ran wide out of Stirlings, losing momentum to Plato's Chevrolet, eventually resulting in Plato taking the victory by just 15 hundredths of a second, the closest winning margin in championship history.

Fabrizio Giovanardi completed the podium in third, while standings leader Colin Turkington finished eighth after starting tenth.

The result means that Giovanardi is now just 6 points behind Team RAC driver Turkington, with Plato just a further eight points behind, with 34 points still up for grabs in the remaining two races today.

Round 29 of 30 is due to begin at 14:20 local time, with live coverage on ITV4.

Full Results

Sebastian Vettel won the Japanese Grand Prix as Jenson Button finished eighth to ensure that Rubens Barrichello, who finished seventh, only reduced the Brit's lead by one point.

Vettel led from pole position for Red Bull, ahead of a surprise second place for Toyota's Jarno Trulli, with Lewis Hamilton finishing third.

Button is now 14 points ahead of Barrichello, with Vettel just two points further back.

Full Report at Autosport.com

Colin Turkington goes into tomorrow's first of three races with a thirteen point advantage over his nearest rival, Fabrizio Giovanardi. We assess his chances of stopping the Italian taking a third straight title.

Turkington, 27, has shown great maturity this season as he has mixed with experienced touring car names such as Giovnardi, Plato and Neal. He has got to grips with the rear-wheel drive BMW, using its start-line advantage to great effect. He also has a knack of keeping on the road when leading or under-pressure, unlike other BTCC youngsters. This will be important tomorrow in case Giovanardi eats into his advantage early on in the day.

Both Turkington and Giovanardi must watch out for Jason Plato, who does have a 28 point deficit to make up, but a collision for Colin or Gio could hand it to Plato on a plate. The title would be a great acheivement after only getting the RML Chevrolet deal together days before the start of the season.

Who do you think will win the title? Vote in the poll on the right-hand side or leave a comment.

Team Aon driver Tom Chilton has surprised the BTCC field by claiming pole position at Brands Hatch for Round 28 of the championship. Chilton, who scored the team's first podium finish in his Ford Focus at the last round at Rockingham, set a time of 1:33.159 on the Grand Prix layout at Brands Hatch.

Title contenders Jason Plato (Racing Silverline) and Fabrizio Giovanardi (VX Racing) will start tomorrow's first race in second and third on the grid. Championship leader Colin Turkington will start down in tenth place for Team RAC.

Full Results