MG take Brands BTCC wins.

Anthony Reid and Warren Hughes gave MG Sport and Racing a fantastic double race victory at Brands Hatch this afternoon after two incident-packed Green Flag BTCC races around the tight 1.2mile Indy Circuit, witnessed by 15,100 enthusiastic spectators.

Championship leader James Thompson endured a miserable weekend, retiring from the sprint race with suspension failure and then being forced off the circuit by his Vauxhall Motorsport team mate Yvan Muller in the feature race. Thompson's dire weekend was compounded by another engine change which saw him leave Brands Hatch with five points less than he had before the weekend. Despite a mixed weekend for main championship rival Muller, Thompson's lead in the championship has been dramatically cut from 24 points down to four - and the BTC Touring Driver's Championship title therefore goes down the wire to Donington Park Circuit in four weeks time.

Although it was a victorious weekend for MG drivers, Vauxhall sewed up the BTC Touring Manufacturers' Championship after the sprint race, much to the delight of Vauxhall Motorsport Operations Manager, Mike Nicholson:

"To win the Manufacturers' Championship two years on the trot is just great! It's been a bit harder this year but I still think that the Astra Coup? has the legs of all the others. The gap has definitely closed so I'm delighted with the result - a real team effort."

Sprint Race

Anthony Reid authoritatively converted his pole position into MG Sport and Racing's second race win of the season this afternoon after an action-packed Green Flag BTCC sprint race. Team mate Warren Hughes shadowed him all the way to secure second from Vauxhall Motorsport's Yvan Muller - whilst it all went wrong for championship leader James Thompson, who was forced to retire on lap 14 with suspension failure. Despite Thompson's retirement, Vauxhall had done enough in the sprint race to claim the BTC Touring Manufacturers' Championship title, the award duly collected by the Managing Director of Vauxhall Motors Ltd, Kevin Wale.

But the podium celebrations centred on MG. As an ecstatic Reid commented: "What a fantastic result for the whole team! This is the first time that a manufacturer, other than Vauxhall, has won in the dry and it proves that MG is a strong contender. It's good for the championship that Vauxhall now faces stiff competition - like Honda and Proton we have had very little testing this year so it's been a tough task. But we've got there and although both Warren and I will be carrying success ballast for the feature race, I'm confident that we can pull out another good result."

Fellow front-row men Reid and Hughes made a good start to head the pack into Paddock Hill Bend. After the customary tussle over the opening lap, the top six then began to pull away from the pack, with Team Atomic Kitten's Gareth Howell running strongly in third, followed by Thompson, Muller and the hard-charging Team Halfords Peugeot 406 Coup? of Tim Harvey.

An early safety car intervention - initiated by Team Atomic Kitten's Colin Turkington going off the circuit along Cooper Straight - bunched the field back up, but the MG pairing weren't taking any prisoners and easily held their advantage at the re-start. As the top six ran nose-to-tail around the tight 1.2 mile Indy Circuit, a furious battle was also being played out in the lower half of the top ten. Egg Sport's Matt Neal was the man on the move, engaging in a tremendous battle of wills with Team Petronas Syntium Proton's Phil Bennett. The tussle between Honda Racing's Andy Priaulx and Team Halfords' Dan Eaves was just as frantic, although neither would ultimately benefit from their efforts, Priaulx suffering from a lack of power due to a bent exhaust and Eaves ending his race against the pit wall when his steering failed.

At half distance, Neal finally found a way past Bennett to move up into seventh - and Muller, who had been demoted down to sixth by Harvey several laps earlier, made a successful challenge on the Team Halfords driver into Clearways to re-take fifth. That soon became fourth when the unfortunate Thompson, who'd been suffering with handling problems since the second lap, was forced out of the race on lap 14 with suspension failure.

The Frenchman was then immediately all over Howell and looking for a way past, but the scrapping MG and Vauxhall allowed the following Harvey and Neal to close right up and soon it was a four way battle of attrition. But the experienced Muller made his move quickly, successfully overtaking Howell into Paddock, then finding himself door handle-to-door handle with the young Atomic Kitten driver round the next corner. A terrific contre-temps ensued, Muller finally getting the better of the young pretender, with Howell also falling prey to Neal in the chaos.

A second safety car period offered Muller a chance to challenge the MG's dominance, but it wasn't to be. The heavier Vauxhall Astra Coup? was no match for the on-song MGs and Reid duly took the flag to secure his first win of the season, from Hughes and Muller. Neal finished fourth, with Howell fifth overall and winner of the Independents' Cup, from fellow Independents' runner, Harvey, who was suffering from an intermittent misfire. The quickest Independents' entry in qualifying, Barwell Motorsport's Aaron Slight, had a miserable time, losing several places at the start and then being involved in an incident towards the end of the race that resulted in a trip to the Paddock Hill Bend gravel trap - and caused the race to be stopped early.

Round 17 in the Production category was also fiercely contested. Edenbridge Racing's Norman Simon, currently second in the BTC Production Drivers' Championship, emerged victorious with a superb fifth win of the season. Championship leader James Kaye finished in second, closely followed by Gary Ayles Motorsport's Gavin Pyper.

A beaming Simon said: "I had a great race and am obviously pleased with the result. The pressure is now on Kaye to tie up the championship this afternoon and for me to stop him, which I intend to do. James and I have so many good fights - I'd like to say I dislike him but we have such clean, exciting racing - I enjoy it. It's going to be hard for me stop him in what could be his final assault for the title but I'm not giving up yet. He has a fight on his hands!"

From second on the grid, Simon had a strong start using the rear wheel traction of his BMW 320i to power his way past the Honda Civic Type-R of poleman Kaye on the first corner. In a similar fashion Simon's team-mate Tom Boardman had also pushed Pyper's Alfa 156 from third into fourth. After only the first few laps the Safety Car was deployed for an unrelated incident and on the restart Kaye pushed hard but storming Norman was beginning to open up a generous gap. Meanwhile the determined Scot, Pyper, had earlier asserted his authority and had rejected the fighting talk from the Preston based youngster, Boardman, for the fight at the front of the grid with Kaye and Simon. Kaye was consequently trying to catch Simon and was being forced to defend his line from the eager advances of Pyper. He succumbed on lap 13 when Pyper managed to pass him to take second place.

But Kaye was able to keep up with the pace of Pyper and used him to close the gap on Simon, whose car was suiting the 1.2 mile Indy Circuit like a dream. On lap 16, in an effort to keep Kaye's shadow behind him, Pyper made a defensive lunge but went wide and allowed the fast and determined Kaye to take second position back again. A third safety car deployment regrouped the field but Kaye found himself temporarily stuck in traffic at the green flag, allowing Simon to pull away once more. Although quick, Pyper was carrying 30kgs more success ballast than Kaye, which was hampering his speed on the straights. So he could only work at keeping with the rear bumper of Kaye's Honda until a disappointing red flag ended the race - and Kaye's chances of catching the German leader.

The pressure is mounting and the points war continued into the feature race.

Feature Race

Warren Hughes delivered an MG Sport and Racing double this afternoon as he made the very most of a particularly frenetic feature race to secure MG's third win of the season. Alan Morrison was a tremendous second for Honda Racing, from the equally impressive Tim Harvey for Team Halfords - who also secured overall Independents' Cup honours.

Said Hughes: "What an incredible weekend for MG. I knew we weren't going to be the quickest car out there as we were carrying a lot of success ballast from the sprint race result, so I had to drive a really calm and collected race - and it paid off! When I saw Thompson off in the gravel trap I had a feeling the safety car would be called out, so we made the decision to take our pit stop. The timing was spot-on and we reaped the rewards. It all worked out perfectly!"

Having qualified a career-best second to Hughes for the feature race, Barwell Motorsport's Aaron Slight was distraught when his Vauxhall Astra Coup? refused to fire up, forcing him to miss the pit lane opening. The team traced the problem to some dirt in the air in-take, but the damage was done and Slight would start the race from the pit lane.

This left an all-MG front row of the grid, with pole sitter Hughes heading Reid at the rolling start. But Reid wasn't going to sit in second for long; the earlier sprint race winner was all over Hughes from the off and a clean move on lap four promoted Reid through into the lead. While the MG duo concentrated on maintaining their small advantage, it was non-stop action behind them. Team Atomic Kitten's Colin Turkington and Vauxhall Motorsport's James Thompson made contact early on at Druids, sending Turkington into a spin and promoting his team mate, the fast-starting Gareth Howell, up into fourth. A titanic battle of attrition was then played out between Howell and Thompson, with places changing each corner.

Egg Sport's Matt Neal was soon right up with them both and looking for a way past when the safety car was called out for an incident involving Team Petronas Syntium Proton's David Leslie. The complexion of the race then changed dramatically as teams and drivers made the critical decision about pit stops. Thompson was one of the first in, followed by Muller who was up to seventh from 14th on the grid. A quicker stop by Muller saw the Vauxhall Motorsport team mates leave the pits together and they raced side-by-side up to Druids corner. An ambitious move by Muller up the inside of Thompson resulted in contact, spearing both drivers off into the gravel trap. Muller managed to rejoin the race immediately, but a furious Thompson was out.

Once all the Touring Class drivers had completed their mandatory pit stop, it was evident who had timed their stops just right. A somewhat bemused Hughes found himself back in the lead from an aggressive Paul O'Neill for Egg Sport, who tried every move he knew to get past the Geordie, but without success. Gearbox dramas later intervened and dropped him down to fourth but not before O'Neill had given the race leader something to think about. Morrison claimed second with six laps to go, after a perfectly-timed pit stop, Harvey overtaking O'Neill for third three laps later. Arguably the most exciting racing over the final few laps was an incredible fight for fifth position. MG Sport and Racing's Anthony Reid overcame tremendous competition from Muller, Priaulx, Neal and the recovering Slight to claim the position, the quintet being joined by Barwell Motorsport's Tom Chilton in producing the greatest number of overtaking moves per lap witnessed this season.

The giant killing performances and excitement in the Touring Class were mirrored in the Production category. The final positions in the feature race were identical to those of the sprint race earlier in the afternoon - Edenbridge Racing's Norman Simon in first, Synchro Motorsport's James Kaye in second and Gary Ayles Motorsport's Gavin Pyper in third. With Kaye finishing in second, Simon needed to have finished third or lower for the Harrogate based Kaye and championship leader to have claimed the overall BTC Production Drivers' Championship.

A jubilant Simon commented: "I am really happy for the team - we have gained some valuable points here at Brands Hatch but I wish I could have taken the win without the contact with Gavin Pyper. I am sorry for that but I am pleased that I have stopped Kaye from taking the championship silverware today. I think it will be very difficult to take the title at the final rounds at Donington Park but it is definitely possible. Anything can happen in motorsport."

Poleman Simon again had a great start but could not generate the same gap as the sprint race start as he was carrying extra success ballast - a result of his win. Pyper had a better start than Kaye and managed to knock him from second down to third from the off. Simon maintained his lead until just after the second restart when a Touring car attempted to pass his BMW 320i, punting his rear in the process and pushing him into the gravel. Pyper seized this opportunity to head the pack, whilst Simon rejoined and fought his way back up to second.

Kaye seemed to have opted for a tactical points battle, happily sitting in third and enjoying the fray that ensued between Pyper and Simon in front of him. For over 15 laps the battle was fierce. Pyper's Alfa 156 was fast on the straights and slow on the corners and Simon was chasing hard just biding his time, waiting for Pyper to make a mistake. The chance came at Druids when Pyper ran wide and Simon dived for the inside line but was caught short when Pyper suddenly turned in. The resulting contact forced Pyper to spin out but he managed to rejoin in third behind Kaye. Simon - Kaye - Pyper, the order remained the same across the finishing line and the title bid now goes down to the wire.

Kaye said: "It was a long race and I kept out of the way. I just had to go for the points and keep my nose clean. At the end of the day I wanted to tie the championship up here at Brands Hatch but I wasn't the quickest on the track. My car will perform much better at Donington Park as it is not such a tight circuit as the Indy Circuit is here - it is a quick but open circuit, which will suit us just fine."

The maximum points that either of the two title contenders, Kaye and Simon can gain at Donington Park is 34 and the current points difference between Kaye and Simon stands at 33. If Simon fulfilled that feat then Kaye would still only need two points to take the championship laurels. Beacon Motorsport's Spencer Marsh is sitting a comfortable third in the standings but the eager Scotsman, Pyper has been working his way up the points ladder and has his sights firmly set on that rung. To the moral victor the spoils? Whatever happens, the last two rounds of the Green Flag BTCC are sure to deliver a dramatic and unmissable showdown.

Provisional championship points for the Production Class after 18 of 20 rounds (top six only): Kaye 186, Simon 153, Marsh 109, Edwards Jnr 91, Pyper 85***, Boardman 85.

Provisional championship points for the Touring Class after 18 of 20 rounds (top six only): Thompson** 161, Muller* 157, Neal* 135, Reid 125, Priaulx 99*, Hughes 93* (*denotes engine change - minus 5 points). Provisional championship points for the Independents' Cup (top three only): Slight 144, Harvey 131*, Eaves 130.