Ash Sutton produced a masterclass drive to move up from tenth on the grid to claim his 51st career win in the second race of the day at Snetterton this afternoon (Sunday). Sutton’s victory came at the expense of title rival Tom Ingram, who failed to finish after retiring with an issue.
At the start of the race, it was the pole sitter Charles Rainford who got a good launch once again in his WSR BMW, with his teammate Daryl De Leon following him through into second into turn one before Ingram immediately retook his second place. The reigning champion was quick to make his move on the lead, launching past Rainford on the second lap in his Team VERTU Hyundai.
Further back, Sutton began to carve through the pack and was challenging for sixth by lap three. Meanwhile, the BMWs up front began to struggle after using up their boost allocation, with De Leon losing out to Dan Cammish, who moved into fourth. However, the four-time champion was flying behind and was past Rainford for second by the seventh tour of the Norfolk circuit. Ricky Collard showed good pace too as he piloted his Hyundai into the top five by the halfway point.
As Sutton cruised up to the back of the Team VERTU machine of Ingram, the latter suffered a massive lockup into turn two, providing a clear path for Sutton to blast past, and dropping Ingram down to fifth. Further misfortune struck the Hyundai later on, when, after a collision with one of the Cataclean Plato Racing Mercedes’, the two-time champion pulled over with a terminal issue.
Ahead, Sutton continued unfazed as he blasted away from the pack. Amid the drama, Collard moved up into second place, with the fellow Hyundai of Tom Chilton running well in third. A three-way battle for fourth saw Cammish defending from both the Mercedes of Daniel Rowbottom and Adam Morgan during the final couple of laps.
As the chequered flag waved, Sutton crossed the line to take victory and bounce back from a disappointing start of the weekend to claim an incredible 51st victory by six seconds, followed by the Team VERTU pair of Collard and Chilton. Cammish held on for fourth, while Morgan came out on top of the intra-team Plato Racing battle to round out the top five.
Rowbottom was therefore sixth, with Gordon Shedden seventh for the Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport team. Rainford dropped back to eventually finish eighth with the Restart Racing car of Chris Smiley ninth. Tenth was the WSR BMW of Daryl De Leon, as both BMWs suffered without the benefit of boost.
Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship, Snetterton, Race 2
- Ash Sutton, NAPA Racing UK, Ford Focus Titanium
- Ricky Collard, Team VERTU, Hyundai i30N, +6.009s
- Tom Chilton, Team VERTU, Hyundai i30N, +7.295s
- Dan Cammish, NAPA Racing UK, Ford Focus Titanium, +11.954s
- Adam Morgan, Cataclean Plato Racing, Mercedes A35 Saloon, +14.906s
- Daniel Rowbottom, Cataclean Plato Racing, Mercedes A35 Saloon, +15.942s
- Gordon Shedden, Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport, +16.129s
- Charles Rainford, WSR, BMW 330i M Sport, +17.496s
- Chris Smiley, Restart Racing, Hyundai i30N, +17.613s
- Daryl De Leon, WSR, BMW 330i M Sport, +19.047s
Click here for full results and times from this weekend's event.