Dan Kirby wins a red-flagged Race 1 at Brands Hatch

Dan Kirby was the winner of the first TCR UK race at Brands Hatch that was disrupted twice by the red flag. It was an unexpected result considering that Kirby had started from P10 of the grid and sat on P7 at the restart after the first red flag.
At the start, Bruce Winfield and pole sitter Bradley Kent had a close fight for the lead, with Kent retaking the lead in lap 2. Behind them, Max Hart and Lewis Kent made contact at Druids while fighting for P3; Hart went off, prompting the safety car into action. Soon afterwards, the red flag was waved as the marshals were working to recover Hart’s car.
At the restart, Bradley Kent made a bad start from the pole, and it was Winfield who led the field once again. Bradley Kent passed Kirby for P3 and soon afterwards Winfield went off at Clearways, falling to P5.
Bradley Kent was chasing the overall leader – Bearne in a TCT car – when they clashed at the Graham Hill bend. Kent spun off and retired, while Kirby benefited from the commotion to take the lead.
Lewis Kent passed Winfield for P4 just before the race was red flagged again and for good after another TCT car went off. 
This gave Kirby his maiden win, ahead of his Power Maxed Racing teammate Constable and Lewis Kent who was fourth overall and third in TCR UK.
With both, Hart and Bradley Kent non-finishers, Lewis Kent was able to stretch his leadership in the standings to 38 points ahead of Winfield. 
Races 2 and 3 will take place tomorrow at 11:45 and 14:20 local times (12:45 and 15:20 CEST). 

Brands Hatch – Race 1
1. Dan Kirby (Power Maxed Racing, CUPRA), 6 laps
2. Jac Constable (Power Maxed Racing, CUPRA), 1.494
3. Lewis Kent (Essex & Kent Motorsport, Hyundai i30 N), 2.042
4. Bruce Winfield (Area Motorsport, CUPRA DSG), 2.692
5. William Butler (Power Maxed Racing, CUPRA), 4.467

Championship points
1. L. Kent 111 pts; 2. B. Winfield 73; 3. M. Hart 69

Picture: TCR UK