The teenager was in sensational form from the start, his qualifying times nearly a second ahead of his nearest challenger in the two dry sessions around the 2.25-mile oval track. Ryan Borthwick was the only driver to challenge Adrian for victory but was such was his performance, the former kartist took a 2.362sec winning advantage in race one to take the title with one round in hand.
In the wet race, Adrian led the pack safely into the first corner, with Borthwick slotting in behind, and the pair immediately pulled out a gap over the others. Quaife Hobbs looked in commanding form and totally at ease in the conditions as he went on to record his seventh win of the season and the title.
Sunday's second race was held in much better conditions, and again a superb start gave him the lead into the first corner.
Borthwick followed him through and sat with him for the duration of the race, briefly leading for one corner, before Adrian retook the place and they went on to record the closest finish in a T-Cars race, just 0.04secs separating them at the flag.
Adrian's title challengers James Williams and Jack Timpany could only manage tenth and sixth in race one, their championship bid over.
"It's fantastic,"
said a delighted Adrian at the finish.
"I didn't know I'd won the championship until I came in because I didn't know where James (Williams) had finished. Then I saw the looks on the PR Motorsport team and my parents and I knew. The weekend was perfect really, we had been quickest here in the last test and then on Friday so I went in to qualifying feeling confident.
"At the start of the season with the problems we had in race one I never thought we'd be in with a shout of the title. Silverstone was probably the turning point for us, when we had the double victory and closed the gap right down, then I thought maybe we could turn it all round. The team have done a fantastic job and I'd like to say a big thank you to them and to my parents who have supported me throughout the season."
Adrian now intends to return to the T-Cars Championship in 2006, as he's still too young to move up to senior car racing, to defend his title and become the first driver to race in the championship with the number one on his car.
"I can't go anywhere else yet so I have no choice. In any case, I'd like to be the first driver to come back into the championship as Champion and carry number one on the car."
Results of race 1 - 15 minutes
| 1. |
Adrian Quaife Hobbs |
15:46.307 |
| 2. |
Ryan Borthwick |
15:48.669 |
| 3. |
Alex MacDowall |
16:35.134 |
| 4. |
Daniel Laddiman |
16:36.313 |
| 5. |
Jolyon Palmer |
17:08.612 |
| 6. |
Jack Timpany |
17:14.522 |
Fastest lap:
| |
Borthwick |
1:56.091 69.77mph (112.28kph) |
Race results race 2 - 15 minutes
| 1. |
Adrian Quaife Hobbs |
15:00.525 |
| 2. |
Ryan Borthwick |
15:00.566 |
| 3. |
Max Chilton |
15:36.460 |
| 4. |
James Williams |
15:38.405 |
| 5. |
Daniel Laddiman |
15:40.116 |
| 6. |
Alex MacDowall |
15:42.159 |
Fastest lap:
| |
Borthwick |
1:49.816 73.76mph 118.70kph (establishes lap record) |
Final Championship points after 18 rounds (with dropped scores)
| 1. |
Adrian Quaife Hobbs |
284 |
| 2. |
James Williams |
257 |
| 3. |
Jack Timpany |
251 |
| 4. |
Daniel Laddiman |
245 |
| 5. |
Ryan Borthwick |
241 |
| 6. |
Drew Lammas |
211 |
