Ash Sutton rounded off a fantastic day by taking the win in the third and final race at Donington Park. Chris Smiley grabbed second in a great debut weekend for Excelr8’s new Hyundai, with Josh Cook finishing third in his Honda Civic.
Smiley’s Hyundai was drawn to start on pole thanks to the reverse grid draw. Ollie Jackson in the Motorbase Ford Focus was next to him on the grid.
Jackson made the better start and led on the run down to Redgate. Stephen Jelley made a fantastic start to be third out of the first corner. Debutants Jack Butel and Ollie Brown collided at the Craner Curves, with Butel spinning, bringing out a brief safety car period.
Jackson continued to lead on the restart, Sutton moved up to sixth as he passed race one winner Dan Cammish before taking fifth from Jelley. Jack Goff’s miserable weekend continued as he span off. He retired to the pits.
Lap six and there was a four way battle for the lead between Jackson, Smiley, Josh Cook and Adam Morgan. Jelley spun at the chicane to lose his fine progress and he finished 18th.
On lap seven and Smiley took the lead into the Auld Hairpin, meanwhile Sutton joined the battle for the lead. The 2017 champion was surging forward and was second going into lap ten.
He finally passed Smiley for the lead coming into the final chicane and pulled away.
Senna Proctor started last having had a full engine refit and missed race two. He made it all the way to 15th and the points, before going off with only a couple of laps to go.
Sutton took the chequered flag with Smiley picking up a brilliant podium in the debut weekend for the Hyundai i30N. Cook finished third with Morgan and Jackson rounding off the top five.
Tom Ingram had a solid weekend and finished sixth, with Cammish and Neal seventh and eighth in their Team Dynamics Honda Civics. The two BMW’s of Tom Oliphant and race two winner Colin Turkington finishing ninth and tenth respectively.
Sutton was undoubtedly the driver of the day with his electrifying pace and fantastic determination and daring overtakes. The action continues at Brands Hatch next weekend.
| Pos | Driver | Car | Interval |
| 1 | Ash Sutton | Infiniti Q50 | |
| 2 | Chris Smiley | Hyundai i30N | +2.280 |
| 3 | Josh Cook | Honda Civic Type R FK8 | +2.556 |
| 4 | Adam Morgan | Mercedes A Class | +3.524 |
| 5 | Ollie Jackson | Ford Focus ST | +4.890 |
| 6 | Tom Ingram | Toyota Corolla | +5.161 |
| 7 | Dan Cammish | Honda CIvic Type R FK8 | +6.247 |
| 8 | Matt Neal | Honda Civic Type R FK8 | +7.112 |
| 9 | Tom Oliphant | BMW 330i M Sport | +7.629 |
| 10 | Colin Turkington | BMW 330i M Sport | +7.993 |
| 11 | Rory Butcher | Ford Focus ST | +12.317 |
| 12 | Tom Chilton | Honda Civic Type R FK8 | +14.635 |
| 13 | Michael Crees | Honda Civic Type R FK8 | +17.127 |
| 14 | Carl Boardley | BMW 125i M Sport | +17.239 |
| 15 | Bobby Thompson | Audi S3 Saloon | +21.984 |
| 16 | James Gornall | Audi S3 Saloon | +22.478 |
| 17 | Aiden Moffat | Infiniti Q50 | +26.247 |
| 18 | Stephen Jelley | BMW 125i M Sport | +26.512 |
| 19 | Andy Neate | Ford Focus ST | +31.712 |
| 20 | Jack Butel | Mercedes A Class | +43.719 |
| 21 | Nicolas Hamilton | VW CC | +46.015 |
| 22 | Senna Proctor | Hyundai i30N | +1 Lap |
| 23 | Ollie Brown | VW CC | +1 Lap |
| 24 | Jake Hill | Honda Civic Type R FK2 | +3 Laps |
| Retirements | |||
| RET | Sam Osborne | Honda Civic Type R FK2 | Mechanical |
| RET | Jack Goff | VW CC | Mechanical |
Image Credit: BTCC Media