BTCC Thruxton – Sutton extends championship lead as Ingram suffers late puncture

Ash Sutton extended his championship lead with a win in race two at Thruxton. He reeled in race one winner Josh Cook, who finished second, with Tom Oliphant third for the WSR team.

Cook led from pole at the start, with Rory Butcher passing Jake Hill, who dropped from second to fourth off the line. Jade Edwards jumped the start, seeming to misread the lights and was given a five second penalty.

There was drama for the Dynamics Honda team as both Dan Rowbottom and Gordon Shedden were into the pits by the end of lap two with mechanical issues. Jack Mitchell joined them in the pits in his Team HARD Cupra Leon, with his team mate Aron Taylor-Smith not even making the start. He broke down on the formation lap.

On lap three Sutton passed Oliphant for second place, with Cook 2.2 seconds up the road in the lead.

The other battle was between Butcher and Tom Ingram, who were fighting over fifth place.

By lap seven Sutton was just a second behind Cook, who had the full 75kg ballast on his Honda Civic. On lap nine Sutton was on the rear bumper of Cook, and was looking for the right opportunity to pass, which he eventually took.

Sutton’s Infiniti made the best exit out of the final chicane and had a run on Cook. He cut down the inside and passed into turn one, taking the lead and cruising to the chequered flag.

Lap 13 saw a hairy moment between Butcher and Ingram, as they made slight contact at Noble, an incredibly high speed corner, thankfully Butcher regained the car and held on without losing a place. However on lap 15 Ingram passed Butcher with a nice switchback move at the Complex. Colin Turkington was in the mix too, but couldn’t pass either.

Sutton took the win and extended his championship lead, with Cook and Oliphant behind him.

Hill was fourth and Butcher inherited fifth as Ingram suffered a puncture on the final lap, sending him all the way down to 12th. Turkington was sixth. Senna Proctor took seventh with Adam Morgan eighth and the Power Maxed pair of Jason Plato and Dan Lloyd rounding off the top ten.

Pos Driver Car Team +/-
1 Ash Sutton Infiniti Q50 Laser Tools 20:42:975
2 Josh Cook Honda Civic Type R BTC Racing +0.878
3 Tom Oliphant BMW 330i M Sport Team WSR +4.504
4 Jake Hill Ford Focus ST MB Motorsport +5.036
5 Rory Butcher Toyota Corolla Toyota Gazoo +8.059
6 Colin Turkington BMW 330i M Sport Team WSR +8.452
7 Senna Proctor Honda Civic Type R BTC Racing +8.973
8 Adam Morgan BMW 330i M Sport Ciceley +10.140
9 Jason Plato Vauxhall Astra Power Maxed +10.995
10 Dan Lloyd Vauxhall Astra Power Maxed +11.297
11 Chris Smiley Hyundai i30N Excelr8 +11.596
12 Tom Ingram Hyundai i30N Excelr8 +13.721
13 Aiden Moffat Infiniti Q50 Laser Tools +16.540
14 Stephen Jelley BMW 330i M Sport Team WSR +16.844
15 Jack Butel Hyundai i30N Excelr8 +17.363
16 Jack Goff Cupra Leon Team HARD +18.875
17 Tom Chilton BMW 330i M Sport Ciceley +20.066
18 Ollie Jackson Ford Focus ST MB Motorsport +22.286
19 Sam Osborne Ford Focus ST Motorbase +24.582
20 Rick Parfitt Jr Hyundai i30N Excelr8 +25.105
21 Carl Boardley Infiniti Q50 Laser Tools +27.640
22 Sam Smelt Toyota Corolla Toyota Gazoo +28.163
23 Paul Rivett Ford Focus ST Motorbase +28.679
24 Jade Edwards Honda Civic Type R BTC Racing +29.365*
25 Nicholas Hamilton Cupra Leon Team HARD +46.624
26 Dan Rowbottom Honda Civic Type R Team Dynamics +6 Laps
Retirements
DNF Jack Mitchell Cupra Leon Team HARD Mechanical
DNF Gordon Shedden Honda Civic Type R Team Dynamics Mechanical
DNS Aron Taylor-Smith Cupra Leon Team HARD Driveshaft
  • – Jade Edwards received a 5 second penalty for a jump start.
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