•Lady Luck abandons 21-year-old in Brands Hatch finale•BRDC Rising Star now focussed on ‘exciting times’ ahead

Having proven himself to be the class of the field season-long, Ash Hand was cruelly denied the Renault UK Clio Cup championship crown at Brands Hatch last weekend as mechanical misfortune blunted his challenge. With seven race victories, eight pole positions, six fastest laps and an impressive 13 podium finishes to his credit from 18 starts, Hand has unquestionably been the quickest driver around in the fiercely-disputed single-make, ITV4-televised British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) support series in 2015. For all of his pace, panache and palpable potential, though, there was one element he was crucially lacking as the title fight neared its conclusion – luck. Following a gritty effort at Silverstone a fortnight earlier, the talented young Nuneaton ace arrived at Brands Hatch’s legendary GP Circuit holding a 15-point advantage at the top of the table – and very much the man to beat. After lapping fastest amongst the 20 high-calibre contenders in free practice, however, a loose turbo pipe inside the engine of Hand’s Sigma, The Manchester College and QTS-backed Renaultsport Clio 200 Turbo EDC left him down on power in qualifying and restricted him to an unaccustomed sixth and fourth on the starting grids – with it all to do come the races. Never one to lie down without a fight, the 21-year-old Warwickshire star recovered from a chaotic opening lap in Saturday’s encounter – as cars flew off the track left, right and centre – to scythe through the order from ninth position. Overtaking his adversaries almost as if they were standing still, Hand was up to third by lap eight and took full advantage of a late safety car period that bunched the pack together to opportunistically steal second at the re-start. Although by then his tyres had taken too much punishment to countenance an attack on Ashley Sutton in the lead, it was a heroic performance and one befitting of a champion-in-waiting. It also meant that the next day – regardless of where Sutton finished – third place would be sufficient to secure the spoils. An excellent start saw the British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) Rising Star gain a couple of spots, and despite subsequently conceding one of them, that still left him in third – and therefore in the pound seats. What was unknown at the time, however, was that Hand was grappling with serious suspension issues – although they swiftly became apparent as he dramatically dropped back. Forced into a rearguard action with a queue of rivals lining up behind, the Andy Priaulx Sports Management (APSM) protégé found himself under tremendous pressure and was ultimately powerless to hold them off. Whilst he grittily clung on to take the chequered flag seventh, in championship terms the damage was done. The upshot was that Hand missed out on the title he irrefutably deserved by the slender margin of just five points, but notwithstanding the crushing disappointment, he is fully focussed on looking forwards rather than back as he eyes the next stage in his burgeoning career.“I don’t really know what to say,” reflected the highly-rated Maple Park hotshot. “We’ve fought so hard and I’ve driven so well all season, so to then lose the championship through no fault of our own is gutting. We did all we could, but sometimes the situation is beyond your control and mechanical problems cost us dearly.“It’s not much in the way of consolation, but I’ll always know that I scored more wins, poles and fastest laps than anybody else. I led the championship for the majority of the season and have a lot of people to thank for helping to mould me into the driver I am today – particularly my mentor Andy Priaulx, my mind coach Dr. Ben Chell at iZone and of course all my loyal sponsors.“Congratulations to Ashley on winning the title – he raced well and is a worthy champion, and I’ve enjoyed competing against him. Hopefully we’ll have more battles further down the line, but after three great years in the Renault UK Clio Cup, I’m already thinking about the future and there are plenty of interesting opportunities on the horizon and exciting times ahead.”