Andrew Jordan has won Sunday’s final race of the 2010 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season at the Brands Hatch circuit in Kent.

Lichfield's Jordan led all the way from the reversed grid pole position in his Pirtek Racing Vauxhall Vectra to record his second win of the season and his career. The result cements tenth place in the final Drivers’ standings for the 21-year-old.

Airwaves BMW’s Steven Kane chased Jordan throughout to finish right behind him in second but it was not enough to prevent Team Aon’s Tom Chilton, who finished third, from stealing the Independent Drivers’ title.

But the outcome was in doubt until the very end as Chilton needed to fend off Kane's team-mate Mat Jackson, who set the race's fastest lap, all the way to the line to be sure of the privateers' trophy. Jackson had earlier forced his way past WSR BMW driver Robert Collard who in the same move, at Paddock Hill Bend, was also passed and relegated to sixth by Paul O’Neill in his Sunshine.co.uk with Tech-Speed Honda Integra.

Notably, the gap between Chilton and Kane at the top of the Independent Drivers’ table was just two points. Chilton's team-mate Tom Onslow-Cole who'd led the standings comfortably starting the day slipped to third after suffering his third retirement of the day in the pit lane.

Jordan said: "I had to make my Vectra very wide in places and to be honest, considering we'd been struggling a bit for pace in those first two races, I was surprised to hang on. But I just drove the socks off it and, fair play to Steven, he never tried anything silly bearing in mind what was at stake for him. It's just the best way to finish our first season as a one-car team and gives us great momentum going into the winte rbreak for 2011."

Chilton, meanwhile, commented: "I had to be as cool as my new haircut out there! First I had Collard all over me and then Jackson. I don't think my heart has ever beat so fast during a race. I feel really sorry for my team-mate who's had a nightmare with one problem after another but to come from third to first in one day and win my first trophy in the BTCC feels great. We've also won the Independent Teams title as well and everyone in the team deserves this with the exceptionally hard work they've put into developing the LPG technology and the Focus as a race car throughout the season."

Gordon Shedden produced the star drive of the race. The Honda Racing Team ace started way back in 18th after problems in race two but came through to finish eighth in his Honda Civic. Meanwhile, Jason Plato, already crowned Drivers’ Champion earlier in the day, finished the race in ninth in his Silverline Chevrolet Cruze as Shedden’s team-mate Matt Neal, runner-up in the championship, retired on the opening lap with a mechanical failure.

Finishing tenth to take the final point of the season – and on his debut BTCC event – was young Yorkshire driver Sam Tordoff in his Triple Eight-run Vauxhall Vectra. But there was disappointment for fellow newcomer Ben Collins who, having been dicing with Tordoff, span out of the race in his Airwaves BMW.

Arthur Forster’s race was also over early after he span his BMW backwards into the barrier exiting Graham Hill Bend. Shaun Hollamby retired his AmD Milltek Racing.com VW Golf early on after spinning on oil dropped by Lea Wood’s Central Group Racing Honda Integra which pulled off the circuit. James Kaye (WRC/Barwell Integra) and Tom Boardman (Special Tuning UK SEAT Leon) also stopped with mechanical problems.

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