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Gordon Shedden has become the first driver since 2008 to retain the British Touring Car Championship crown.
The Halfords Yuasa Honda driver went into the final race of the season on the Brands Hatch GP circuit needing to finish ahead of championship rival Sam Tordoff to win the championship for a third time.
Shedden finished the final race in third place after Tordoff dropped back. He eventually took sixth sixth after Adam Morgan also got past him.
"It’s unbelievable – an incredible feeling," said a jubilant Shedden. "I’ve felt really relaxed all weekend, but even going into race three, I thought it was going to be really difficult – and it was!"
"All year, I’ve really stuck my neck on the line and made some bold, heart-in-the-mouth moves that were on the edge more often than not," he added. "After Croft back in June, it looked like we were down-and-out, but we stuck to our guns, kept plugging away and gave it absolutely everything to claw our way back."
"It just goes to show that every single point really does count in this championship."
Tordoff was gracious in defeat. Despite losing the title by a mere two points, he was pleased with what has still been a career-best season.
"It was obviously a shame not to win the title after leading for so long, but we gave it our all and didn’t do anything wrong," said the BMW man. "I don’t think we had a bad day today at all – we scored three strong results, but Gordon had a better one and ultimately the best man won."
"Still, looking at the season overall, we’ve stepped up to the next level and firmly established ourselves as championship contenders," he added. "I’m incredibly proud of myself, of the job done by everyone at WSR and the support we’ve had from BMW, JCT600 and GardX all season. We’ve ended the season as constructors’ and teams’ champions and honestly I couldn’t have asked for much more."
Mat Jackon won the final race of the season while the first two races of the day were taken by championship outsider Colin Turkington.
Despite missing out on the drivers' title, West Surrey Racing and BMW were able to claim both the manufacturers'/constructors', and teams' championships.
Andrew Jordan and Motorbase took independents drivers' and teams' honours, while Croft race three winner Ashley Sutton won the Jack Sears Trophy for top rookie.
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