Of course, at Cobra Seats we support BTCC drivers who use our seats (and let’s face it, we have a lot of drivers to cheer – well over half the BTCC drivers this year chose to use our seats), but that doesn’t mean that we can’t celebrate the success of drivers who haven’t (yet!) chosen Cobra Seats.
Ash Sutton is a thoroughly nice bloke, a true racer and crowd pleaser who has been simply stunning this season: He deserves his Championship and we raise our hats to him.
The final meeting of the season, on the short circuit at Brands, probably summed up the season for Cobra drivers: We started the day with three of the four drivers still in with a chance of lifting the trophy users of Cobra seats, but the fates conspired to frustrate their hopes.
Colin Turkington began the day with a slender Championship lead, but a combination of wet conditions and a car that just wouldn’t “hook up” saw the 2019 BTCC Champion surrender his title with an uncharacteristic whimper: A disappointing 8th in qualifying was followed by a 9th place finish in the first race, a 4th in Race 2 and a 9th in the final race – each time behind all three of his Championship rivals. It was a frustrating end to the season, but Colin still managed to secure second place in the Driver’s Championship – his disappointment only highlights the incredibly high standards which both Colin and “his” West Surrey Racing Team set themselves.
Just two points behind Colin, in third place in the BTCC Driver’s Championship, Halford Yuasa Racing’s Dan Cammish did all he could to take the drivers' title as the delayed 2020 series reached its finale, but a Race 1 victory and a podium in the second race was not enough for Dan to overtake his rivals in the Championship. On the plus side, at the end of a most challenging BTCC season, Dan Cammish had again taken his title chase to the final race. While he missed out, a record of 13 podium finishes, including four race wins, ended another successful season for Honda in the BTCC.
Tom Ingram’s fourth position in the Drivers Championship, just 24 points behind Ash, only tells half the story: Tom achieved fourth despite a season dogged by arguably more frustration and bad luck than most of his rivals (ably summed up by his final corner incident at Snetterton which cost him a handful of points through no fault of his own): Tom will no doubt look back on a season with thoughts of what might have been.
Other BTCC drivers using Cobra Seats who can look back on the 2020 season with some satisfaction include Tom Oliphant who finished 6th in the Championship, Jake Hill (7th) and Tom Chilton (9th), though we would like to congratulate every driver for providing such fantastic entertainment in such exceptional circumstances.
Of course, it wasn’t just the BTCC Driver’s Championship that was decided at Brands – and Cobra Seats were well represented on the honours board.
Congratulations to 2020 BTCC Manufacturers-Construction champions BMW, to Honda, who ran them so close and to third placed Toyota who all use Cobra seats.
BMW’s Championship means that all of the last 10 BTCC Manufacturers Champions have chosen to use Cobra seats.
Congratulations to 2020 BTCC Team Champions, Team BMW and to Halfords Yuasa Racing who were runners up, both teams using Cobra seats.
In topping the rankings, Team BMW’s title means 9 of the last 10 BTCC Team Champions have chosen to use Cobra seats.
Congratulations to Jack Sears Trophy winner Michael Crees (BTC Racing) and runner up Carl Boardley (HUB Financial Solutions with Team Hard) … and thanks for building your careers using Cobra seats.
