And this year’s winner is none other than Northern Ireland’s own Colin Turkington. In what was to be one of the closest races ever, Giovanardi, Turkington and Fifth Gear presenter and racing driver Jason Plato were all vying for the title. Ultimately, it was to be Colin’s day and he won with some style on his final laps, if not by a huge margin.

A big congratulations goes out to Colin from the whole of the Car Articles team, and another congratulations to everyone involved in the BTCC in what has been one of the most exciting seasons for a long time.

Here’s the final scoring of the top three drivers:

Colin Turkington: 275 points
Jason Plato: 270 points
Fabrizio Giovanardi: 266 points

In other news, it’s a great swan song for VX Racing, who having won this year’s Manufacturer/Constructor title are now bowing out of the sport after 20 years participation. Meanwhile, Turkington and Team RAC have won third consecutive Independent Drivers’ and Teams’ crowns respectively.

Don’t forget that this weekend sees the conclusion of the 2009 BTCC – at the Brands Hatch GP. In what should be one of the most exciting finale races ever, there’s a strong three way contest on for the Championship, with Jason Plato, Fabrizio Giovanardi and Colin Turkington all vying for the top position. Everything will be decided on Sunday – so don’t miss the coverage on ITV4 at 11.30!

Jason Plato

There’s been some absolutely brilliant racing on television today – but the best driving I’ve seen has come from a completely different type of motorsport.  In my opinion, the single best demonstration of true skill behind the wheel came from none other than Jason Plato, in the third round of the British Touring Car Championship.

Plato was at Paddock Hill in first place (following the ‘grid reversal’ as per the rules going into the third session) when relative newcomer Jonathan Adam made a hard charge on the inside.  This resulted in some (accidental) contact, pushing Plato in his new Chevrolet Lacetti sideways.

In fact, it turns out that this little stunt of travelling sideways was being conducted at around 90mph – a truly terrifying speed to be looking out of the side window at!  Somehow, Jason demonstrated the spirit of driving when he managed not only to rectify the angle of the car with full lock, full power, but even managed to lose no further places following the incident.

Amazingly, Jason continued on to take a fully justified second place – even following a huge battle with Matt Neal in the final laps.  Given I didn’t even know that Jason was driving (and it was actually a very late arrangement from what I understand), it made the racing even more spectacular.  Jason, keep up that level of skill and you’ll be in contention for the title!