BTCC Brands Hatch: Sutton beats Ingram to claim fourth title

Sutton equalled the record of four titles held by Andy Rouse and Colin Turkington, and became the first driver in history to scoop the BTCC crown in rear and front-wheel-drive machinery.

The Alliance Racing Ford Focus ST star had to endure a nervy finish though – a late safety car left Sutton looking vulnerable to attack from the Excelr8 Motorsport Hyundai i30 N of Ingram, who still had a lap of hybrid boost available to Sutton’s zero.

There were two laps of green-flag racing to the chequered flag, and Ingram had a sniff at the NAPA-liveried Ford into Surtees on the first of those.

Ingram saved his hybrid until the final tour, but had run out of tyre grip and Sutton held on to take the flag by 0.603 seconds.

Poleman Sutton also had a challenge at the start from fellow front-row starter Rory Butcher in his Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Corolla.

Butcher hung on around the outside at Paddock Hill Bend and Druids, allowing Ingram to sneak up the inside and, with his shorter line, demote the Scot to second.

Ingram even had a stab at Sutton into Surtees, but the leader set fastest lap of the race on the second tour, and he and Ingram put a huge amount of daylight between themselves and the rest.

Ashley Sutton, NAPA Racing UK Ford Focus ST (Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images)

Sutton had the gap at over a second by the third lap, and it generally hovered between 1s and 1.5s until that late safety car.

This was caused when Mikey Doble, the Jack Sears Trophy title contender running eighth in his Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall Astra, received a whack from Stephen Jelley’s West Surrey Racing BMW 330e M Sport into Stirlings and plunged headlong into the barrier.

“It’s a massive relief,” said Sutton. “As much as we knew we had a big points gap, Tom was right when he said it was ours to lose.

“The car was absolutely mega and I can’t thank the team enough.

“The special bit is to be the first to take it with rear and front-wheel drive. That’s the one for me, because I don’t plan to leave it at four titles.”

While the leading duo were in a race of their own, there was a ferocious fight for third between Butcher and the Team Hard Cupra Leon of Bobby Thompson.

Like Sutton and Ingram, Thompson had opted for soft Goodyear tyres for this race while most of the field – including Butcher – were on mediums.

Bobby Thompson, Autobrite Direct with Millers Oils Cupra Leon (Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images)

On the fifth lap, Thompson chiselled a gap on the inside of Surtees to wrest the position, but then Butcher dived down the inside at Hawthorns, and the duo ran side by side through Westfield and into Sheene Curve, where contact put Thompson briefly onto the grass.

This brought the battle behind between Dan Rowbottom (Alliance Ford), the WSR BMWs of Jake Hill and Colin Turkington, plus Dan Cammish’s Alliance Ford into the picture, before Butcher and Thompson sprinted away again.

Three laps later, a left-front puncture – which appeared to be completely unrelated to the earlier brush with Thompson – sent Butcher off course at Sheene, and he was forced to the pits for a new tyre before rejoining a lap down.

Turkington, the other of the leading contenders on soft tyres, had moved up to fourth by the safety car, but Thompson held on for an excellent podium finish in the Cupra.

Rowbottom’s stout defensive job throughout the race was finally cracked on the last lap, when Cammish and Hill snuck through for fifth and sixth respectively.

Jelley was eighth, with Ricky Collard (Speedworks Toyota) and Adam Morgan (WSR BMW) completing the top 10.

Doble’s shunt means PMR Vauxhall team-mate Andrew Watson has one hand on the Jack Sears Trophy title, now 37 points clear of Alliance Ford racer Sam Osborne and 38 ahead of Doble.

BTCC Brands Hatch - Race 1 report

Main Information Additional Data Additional Data Driver Info

       

Driver Info			Main Information Additional Data
Cla	Driver	#		Car	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Retirement	Points
1	A. Sutton NAPA Racing UK			Ford Focus ST	18	29'41.888				23
2	T. Ingram BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8			Hyundai i30 Fastback N Performance	18	+0.603	0.603			17
3	B. Thompson Go-Fix with Autoaid Breakdown			Cupra León	18	+2.236	1.633			15
4	C. Turkington Team BMW			BMW 330e M Sport	18	+2.933	0.697			13
5	D. Cammish NAPA Racing UK			Ford Focus ST	18	+4.569	1.636			11
6	J. Hill Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport			BMW 330e M Sport	18	+4.839	0.270			10
7	D. Rowbottom NAPA Racing UK			Ford Focus ST	18	+6.428	1.589			9
8	S. Jelley Team BMW			BMW 330e M Sport	18	+6.617	0.189			8
9	R. Collard Toyota Gazoo Racing UK			Toyota Corolla GR Sport	18	+6.783	0.166			7
10	A. Morgan Team BMW			BMW 330e M Sport	18	+7.263	0.480			6
11	A. Taylor-Smith CarStore Power Maxed Racing			Vauxhall Astra	18	+8.350	1.087			5
12	J. Cook One Motorsport with Starline Racing			Honda Civic Type R	18	+8.537	0.187			4
13	T. Chilton BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8			Hyundai i30 Fastback N Performance	18	+8.550	0.013			3
14	A. Watson CarStore Power Maxed Racing			Vauxhall Astra	18	+9.118	0.568			2
15	D. Lloyd Autobrite Direct with Millers Oils			Cupra León	18	+9.760	0.642			1
16	G. Gamble Toyota Gazoo Racing UK			Toyota Corolla GR Sport	18	+10.657	0.897
17	D. Patterson Re.Beverages and Bartercard with Team HARD.			Cupra León	18	+11.059	0.402
18	S. Osborne NAPA Racing UK			Ford Focus ST	18	+11.207	0.148
19	J. Edwards Re.Beverages and Bartercard with Team HARD.			Cupra León	18	+12.681	1.474
20	R. Pearson BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8			Hyundai i30 Fastback N Performance	18	+13.493	0.812
21	D. De Re.Beverages and Bartercard with Team HARD.			Cupra León	18	+15.467	1.974
22	N. Halstead BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8			Hyundai i30 Fastback N Performance	18	+16.939	1.472
23	R. Butcher Toyota Gazoo Racing UK			Toyota Corolla GR Sport	17	+1 Lap	1 Lap
24	M. Crees Autobrite Direct with Millers Oils			Cupra León	17	+1 Lap	11.928
dnf	A. Moffat One Motorsport with Starline Racing			Honda Civic Type R	14	+4 Laps	3 Laps		Retirement
dnf	M. Doble CarStore Power Maxed Racing			Vauxhall Astra	11	+7 Laps	3 Laps		Retirement
dnf	J. Gornall Go-Fix with Autoaid Breakdown			Cupra León	0				Retirement
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