Usually known for its close, frenetic racing, the BTCC showed that on Sunday but also showed why Ash Sutton is a class apart with the NAPA Racing UK driver winning Race Three at Knockhill by nearly 10 seconds.
Starting the weekend provisionally losing his Drivers’ Championship lead, he has firmly further towards the title leading by 37 points. Starting sixth, he battled his way through to second before easing past home hero, Ronan Pearson who later on had his first podium taken away (albeit not for ride height or track infringements).
He led home from there with Josh Cook carving his way into second to seal a superb turnaround, but he did so too late to even get near Sutton. The podium was completed by Ingram who switched places on the last lap with his teammate in a conflicting battle between a first for Pearson or points for Ingram in a day which saw his Race One snatched away for ride height.
Ricky Collard as ever with his aggressive racing style had some superb battles in fifth ahead of Dexter Patterson in his best ever display to finish sixth. Aiden Moffat similarly gained Scottish honour rounding out the top ten alongside Dan Lloyd, George Gamble and Dan Cammish.
“I’m ecstatic I won’t lie. After race one I thought we were going to have a tough task on our hands in terms of the Championship, but with the disqualification of Tom [Ingram] and the performance in race two. Then finish it off with a win, I couldn’t ask for much more than that,” said Sutton.
“This is the biggest gap I have ever experienced in British Touring Cars so I’m not going to complain about it at all, but we have seen even this weekend how quick things can change. I’m not going to get too excited just yet. We are closer than we have ever been before but we still need to be clever.”
2023 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Race 3 – Knockhill
1. Ashley Sutton, NAPA Racing UK 27 Laps
2. Josh Cook, One Motorsport with Starline Racing +9.636s
3. Tom Ingram, BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8 +16.568s
4. Ronan Pearson, BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8 +17.699s
5. Ricky Collard, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK +19.841s
6. Dexter Patterson, Re.Beverages and Bartercard with Team HARD +20.457s
7. Aiden Moffat, One Motorsport with Starline Racing +21.178s
8. Daniel Lloyd, Autobrite Direct with Millers Oils +21.969s
9. George Gamble, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK +22.906s
10. Dan Cammish, NAPA Racing UK +23.055s
11. Mikey Doble, CarStore Power Maxed Racing +24.155s
12. Rory Butcher, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK +26.157s
13. Sam Osborne, NAPA Racing UK +28.318s
14. Jake Hill, Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport +29.783s
15. Árón Taylor-Smith, CarStore Power Maxed Racing +33.652s
16. Andrew Watson, CarStore Power Maxed Racing +34.011s
17. Colin Turkington, Team BMW +35.589s
18. Adam Morgan, Team BMW +35.677s
19. Stephen Jelley, Team BMW +35.955s
20. Tom Chilton, BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8 +38.492s
21. Jade Edwards, One Motorsport with Starline Racing +42.305
22. Jack Butel, Go-Fix with Autoaid Breakdown +45.490s
23. Daniel Rowbottom, NAPA Racing UK +3 Laps
24. Michael Crees, Autobrite Direct with Millers Oils +5 Laps
25. Rob Huff, Go-Fix with Autoaid Breakdown +15 Laps
26. Daryl DeLeon, Re.Beverages and Bartercard with Team HARD +18 Laps
27. Nick Halstead, BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8 +20 Laps