Tom Chilton will bring the curtain down on his illustrious British Touring Car Championship career at Brands Hatch this weekend, after 20 years in the series.

Chilton, 41, made his BTCC début back in 2002 in a Vauxhall Astra Coupé at the age of 17, making him then the youngest starter in the championship.

Incredibly, Chilton scored a podium on his first-ever appearance, and after switching to the factory Honda squad for the following season, a year later he won his first race in 2004 at the age of 19, becoming the youngest race winner in the series history – a record he still holds to this day.

In 2005, Chilton had arguably his strongest season in a year with depleted grids, winning four races and finishing fifth overall in the championship, despite missing the season opening and closing events.

In 2009, Chilton reunited with the Arena Motorsport squad which had run him in the Honda days and started an association with Ford, which netted him fifth overall in the 2010 season in a year running the controversial LPG-powered Focus.

After switching to the World Touring Car Championship for six years from 2012, Chilton returned in 2017 to run a dual campaign in BTCC and WTCC, immediately earning a podium finish on his return with Power Maxed Racing.

He began an association with EXCELR8 Motorsport in 2022, and has remained at the team since, marking his longest run with the same team in his BTCC career.

Chilton has won a further five races in that time, taking his total victory tally to 19, whilst his races tally of 559 makes him the fourth-most experienced driver in BTCC history.

“It’s no secret that I absolutely love Brands Hatch as my home circuit, and the full Grand Prix layout provides a real challenge as a driver as there is no margin for error,” said Chilton.

“Going into the weekend on the back of a positive performance at Silverstone, I’m feeling optimistic about my chances and feel confident that we can be in the mix towards the front.

“The fact that we’ll have full TOCA Turbo Boost to take into Saturday can only help and hopefully we can secure a strong result there to set us up for Sunday.

“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.

“There are so many fantastic memories from my time in the series, from that debut podium finish in the Vauxhall through to my time with Arena Motorsport in the Honda and Ford, and then the last decade since returning from the World Touring Car Championship.

“Being part of Team VERTU for the last five seasons has been a particular highlight, and I’m hopeful that this weekend, I can bring the curtain down on my BTCC journey with another podium finish – hopefully with a trip to the top step!”