Turkington stages superb comeback to seal Race Three win at Oulton Park as Sutton hits strife

Team BMW‘s Colin Turkington completed an almighty comeback from the back of the grid at the start of the day to seal Race Three honours at Oulton Park on Sunday afternoon in one of the best series of the season.

Turkington was disqualified from qualifying for failing post-session scrutineering checks and started from the back. He charged from 27th to ninth in the first race and then moved up to fourth in Race Two before saving his best for last to seal a 65th BTCC career win.

It was also a weekend to save for Dick Bennetts’ WSR squad with a BMW 1-2-3 with stablemates Jake Hill and Adam Morgan rounding off the podium. The former in particular was stopped from claiming a historic hat-trick only completed by Dan Eaves and Jason Plato previously and one which Ash Sutton has threatened this season.

But on Sutton, it wasn’t the end of the day he hoped as he hit strife on the first corner. Tussling with Tom Ingram, he was squeezed into the pit wall and after further contact as his car began to ground to a halt, he was out of the race.

He trudged through the myriad of spectators at Oulton Park with his helmet on showing his frustrations. Ingram as of time of writing has not been penalised, with the general view being that Sutton chose the wrong move down the outside and wasn’t shunted into the wall by the defending champion.

But after lamenting being sat behind him all season, he finally got away but only due to retirement as the gap has now closed to only a few points in the Drivers’ Championship heading into Croft.

Dan Cammish was behind Ingram at the finish with Aiden Moffat surging through the order but unable to make the progress that commentators Tim Harvey and David Addison expected on the Soft Compound tyre. Same can be said for Dan Rowbottom who surged through to eighth from the back but couldn’t trouble further places.

Ricky Collard, Rory Butcher and George Gamble also finished together rounding out the top 11.

Jade Edwards‘ luck was exhibited too with the Re.Beverages and Bartercard with Team HARD Racing driver who has been the recipient of some harsh luck having one of her better showings of the year. But sat in 16th just outside of the points marginally.

2023 British Touring Car Championship – Race 3 – Oulton Park

1. Colin Turkington, Team BMW 18 Laps
2. Jake Hill, Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport +1.762s
3. Adam Morgan, Team BMW +4.305s
4. Tom Ingram, BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8 +4.709s
5. Dan Cammish, NAPA Racing UK +6.176s
6. Aiden Moffat, One Motorsport with Starline Racing +7.179s
7. Josh Cook, One Motorsport with Starline Racing +9.306s
8. Daniel Rowbottom, NAPA Racing UK +9.512s
9. Ricky Collard, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK +11.786s
10. Rory Butcher, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK +17.512s
11. George Gamble, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK +19.322s
12. Tom Chilton, BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8 +19.949s
13. Stephen Jelley, Team BMW +20.749s
14. Sam Osborne, NAPA Racing UK +21.766s
15. Andrew Watson, CarStore Power Maxed Racing +22.875s
16. Jade Edwards, Re.Beverages and Bartercard with Team HARD +25.203s
17. Ronan Pearson, BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8 +29.115s
18. Jack Butel, Go-Fix with Autoaid Breakdown +32.133s
19. Nick Halstead, BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8 +33.189s
20. Dexter Patterson, Re.Beverages and Bartercard with Team HARD +33.375s 
21. Will Powell, One Motorsport with Starline Racing +39.181s
22. Mikey Doble, CarStore Power Maxed Racing +52.137s
23. Bobby Thompson, Autobrite Direct with Millers Oils +1 Lap
24. Daniel Lloyd, Autobrite Direct with Millers Oils +1 Lap
25. Nic Hamilton, Go-Fix with Autoaid Breakdown +1 Lap
26. Árón Taylor-Smith, CarStore Power Maxed Racing +4 Laps
27. Ashley Sutton, NAPA Racing UK DNF