Hill snaps Sutton dominance with Oulton Park opening win

As Ash Sutton sealed pole again, a third straight weekend of potentially two out of three wins going the way of dominant BTCC Drivers’ Championship leader was potentially set but Jake Hill paid heed to that in the Oulton Park opener with his first win of the season.

Hill was superb off the line blasting past pole-sitter Sutton around the outside on the run down to turn one. A defensive drive followed as Sutton aimed to unsettle the Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport driver.

But as the rear wheel drive car brought its tyres up to temperature, he grew into the race and pulled away from Sutton who despite not sealing the win will be delighted with another big points haul.

The same can be said for Tom Ingram who dubs it up a ‘pointsy’ race and has done so all season in his title defence and came from sixth on the grid to finalise the podium.

Ricky Collard was the best of the rest in fourth keeping away the chasing pack in Dan Cammish, Josh Cook, and Bobby Thompson. Team BMW trio Adam Morgan, Colin Turkington, and Stephen Jelley finalised the top 10.

Turkington in particular came from 27th to ninth making massive progress after being disqualified yesterday.

2023 British Touring Car Championship – Race 1 – Oulton Park

1. Jake Hill, Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport 15 laps
2. Ashley Sutton, NAPA Racing UK +1.874s
3. Tom Ingram, BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8 +2.563s
4. Ricky Collard, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK +10.181s
5. Dan Cammish, NAPA Racing UK +10.583s
6. Josh Cook, One Motorsport with Starline Racing +11.090s
7. Bobby Thompson, Autobrite Direct with Millers Oils +11.566s
8. Adam Morgan, Team BMW +17.674s
9. Colin Turkington, Team BMW +18.676s
10. Stephen Jelley, Team BMW +21.899s
11. Daniel Lloyd, Autobrite Direct with Millers Oils +24.713s
12. Tom Chilton, BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8 +25.416s
13. Mikey Doble, CarStore Power Maxed Racing +30.406s
14. Dexter Patterson, Re.Beverages and Bartercard with Team HARD +31.342s 
15. Andrew Watson, CarStore Power Maxed Racing +32.005s
16. Rory Butcher, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK +33.450s
17. Jack Butel, Go-Fix with Autoaid Breakdown +41.528s
18. Ronan Pearson, BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8 +42.147s
19. Will Powell, One Motorsport with Starline Racing +49.674s
20. Aiden Moffat, One Motorsport with Starline Racing +53.180s
21. Nic Hamilton, Go-Fix with Autoaid Breakdown +53.552s
22. Jade Edwards, Re.Beverages and Bartercard with Team HARD +53.900s
23. Nick Halstead, BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8 +54.260s
24. Daniel Rowbottom, NAPA Racing UK +1 Lap
25. Árón Taylor-Smith, CarStore Power Maxed Racing +2 Laps
26. George Gamble, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK +9 Laps
27. Sam Osborne, NAPA Racing UK +13 Laps