As Autosport reports, British Touring Car Championship veteran Tom Chilton is hanging up his helmet from professional racing after this weekend’s 2026 finale at Brands Hatch. The 41-year-old from Surrey is stepping away after carving out an immense career, boasting 19 race victories since his series debut back in 2002. His best championship position came in 2018 when he finished third, matching the peak he achieved in the World Touring Car Championship the season prior.
By the time the checkered flag falls this weekend, Chilton will have made 562 starts in the BTCC. Rather than chasing podiums in the modern paddock, he will turn his attention to his family, his businesses, and historic racing. Reflecting on his journey, Chilton noted how fitting it is to bow out where it all started. "My BTCC career started on the Brands Hatch GP circuit back in 2002 with a podium finish, so having made the decision to bring my time in the series to an end, it feels appropriate that my final race will be at the same circuit," he said, also highlighting his proud five-season run with the Excelr8 Motorsport Hyundai i30 N Fastback team.
Ahead of that emotional farewell, free practice at Brands Hatch got underway with the outgoing master of the track already finding speed. Chilton put his Team Bristol Street Motors Hyundai i30 Fastback N Performance fifth in the order, locking in his lap right at the end of the session.
At the very top of the timesheets, Daryl De Leon set the pace in his West Surrey Racing BMW 330i M Sport. De Leon is right in the thick of the fight for fourth in the overall standings and the Independents crown, and his late flyer bumped Excelr8 Hyundai driver and outgoing champion Tom Ingram down to second place by 0.081 seconds.
Fresh off securing a record tally of titles, newly crowned five-time champion Ash Sutton grabbed third in his Alliance Racing-run NAPA Ford Focus Titanium. Sutton is running a striking tribute livery this weekend, replacing his usual number 116 with a 5 in honor of his championship haul. Meanwhile, Dan Rowbottom managed fourth in his CPRL Mercedes A35 Saloon after capitalizing on soft tyres at the death, following an earlier stint topping the times on the harder medium compound.
Rounding out the competitive top ten during practice, Josh Cook steered his Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Corolla GR Sport to seventh after holding the benchmark for a prolonged spell. He was followed by Aiden Moffat in a Power Maxed Racing Audi A3 Saloon, Dan Cammish in an Alliance Ford, and Dexter Patterson in another Power Maxed Racing Audi A3 Saloon.
