Croft BTCC: MG's Ash Sutton charges to first win in wet race three
Rookie Ash Sutton mastered challenging wet conditions to secure his maiden British Touring Car Championship win in the final race of the weekend at Croft
The arrival of rain before the start left teams to decide whether to go with wet tyres or to gamble on slicks in the hope that the shower would pass, although only four drivers would ultimately go with dry tyres.
It proved to be the wrong call, with the rain intensifying as the lights went out after two green-flag laps.
Poleman Sam Tordoff was able to retain the lead in his West Surrey Racing BMW 125i M Sport ahead of fellow front-row starter Tom Ingram, while the quick starting rear-wheel-drive cars of Jack Goff and Colin Turkington slotted in behind as Mat Jackson's Ford - one of those to go with slicks - struggled away from the line.
Following an early safety car period to remove Warren Scott's Subaru from the gravel, Tordoff set about building a lead.
But the race would be back under caution by lap five after Jackson, who had gradually slipped down the order, ran wide at Clervaux and was then collected by Aiden Moffat's Mercedes as he rejoined.
Tordoff again tried to make a break on the restart as the drivers behind fought for position, with a forceful move from Sutton on Turkington allowing both him and Rob Collard to get ahead of the Subaru at the hairpin.
Sutton then set about chasing down second-placed Ingram, taking the place at Tower just after half-distance, and was gradually closing the gap to Tordoff when the safety car was deployed for a third time after Hunter Abbott and Jeff Smith came together at Hawthorn.
With the race becoming a two-lap dash to the flag, Sutton put Tordoff under immediate pressure and when the BMW got slightly out of shape going into Sunny, Sutton pounced to secure the lead.
It gave the reigning Clio Cup champion his first win in the BTCC and the Triple Eight-run MG squad a first success since Snetterton last year.
Tordoff was forced to settle for second place but was able to extend his championship lead going into the summer break, with Ingram holding on the complete the podium despite the best efforts of the chasing pack.
Collard secured fourth place to move up to second in the championship standings, with Andrew Jordan's Ford Focus and the second MG of Josh Cook completing the top six.
Having been in the heart of the action at the front, Turkington had to settle for seventh place.
Aron Smith, Goff and Jason Plato rounded out the top 10.
A tough weekend for the factory Honda team ended with Matt Neal in 11th and Gordon Shedden down in 22nd; the Scot having been forced to pit to change tyres having been one of those drivers to start on slicks.
RESULTS - 18 LAPS:
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ash Sutton | Triple Eight/MG | MG | 32m50.206s |
2 | Sam Tordoff | WSR | BMW | 1.337s |
3 | Tom Ingram | Speedworks Motorsport | Toyota | 2.284s |
4 | Rob Collard | WSR | BMW | 2.860s |
5 | Andrew Jordan | Motorbase Performance | Ford | 3.759s |
6 | Josh Cook | Triple Eight/MG | MG | 4.324s |
7 | Colin Turkington | Team BMR | Subaru | 4.683s |
8 | Aron Taylor-Smith | Team BKR | Volkswagen | 4.947s |
9 | Jack Goff | WSR | BMW | 5.942s |
10 | Jason Plato | Team BMR | Subaru | 6.290s |
11 | Matt Neal | Dynamics/Honda | Honda | 7.578s |
12 | Rob Austin | Handy Motorsport | Toyota | 8.685s |
13 | Daniel Lloyd | Eurotech Racing | Honda | 9.835s |
14 | Adam Morgan | Ciceley Racing | Mercedes | 10.999s |
15 | Michael Epps | Team Hard | Toyota | 12.417s |
16 | Martin Depper | Eurotech Racing | Honda | 14.227s |
17 | Daniel Welch | Welch Motorsport | Proton | 14.818s |
18 | Jeff Smith | Eurotech Racing | Honda | 16.955s |
19 | Stewart Lines | Maximum Motorsport | Ford | 17.240s |
20 | Jake Hill | Team Hard | Toyota | 17.813s |
21 | James Cole | Team BMR | Subaru | 17.925s |
22 | Gordon Shedden | Dynamics/Honda | Honda | 18.639s |
23 | Chris Smiley | Team Hard | Toyota | 18.730s |
24 | Mark Howard | Team BKR | Volkswagen | 34.869s |
25 | Alex Martin | Team Parker Racing | Ford | 1 Lap |
26 | Ollie Jackson | AmD Tuning | Audi | 1 Lap |
- | Kelvin Fletcher | Power Maxed Racing | Chevrolet | Retirement |
- | Hunter Abbott | Power Maxed Racing | Chevrolet | Retirement |
- | Mat Jackson | Motorbase Performance | Ford | Retirement |
- | Aiden Moffat | Laser Tools Racing | Mercedes | Retirement |
- | Matt Simpson | Speedworks Motorsport | Honda | Retirement |
- | Warren Scott | Team BMR | Subaru | Retirement |
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Pos | Driver | Points |
---|---|---|
1 | Sam Tordoff | 168 |
2 | Rob Collard | 156 |
3 | Matt Neal | 153 |
4 | Andrew Jordan | 131 |
5 | Jack Goff | 130 |
6 | Tom Ingram | 123 |
7 | Ash Sutton | 119 |
8 | Mat Jackson | 117 |
9 | Gordon Shedden | 116 |
10 | Adam Morgan | 110 |
11 | Colin Turkington | 106 |
12 | Josh Cook | 105 |
13 | Jason Plato | 90 |
14 | Aron Taylor-Smith | 88 |
15 | Rob Austin | 52 |
16 | Jeff Smith | 45 |
17 | Daniel Lloyd | 36 |
18 | Aiden Moffat | 33 |
19 | Jake Hill | 32 |
20 | Martin Depper | 25 |
21 | Hunter Abbott | 22 |
22 | Daniel Welch | 19 |
23 | Michael Epps | 19 |
24 | Alex Martin | 3 |
25 | Ollie Jackson | 3 |
26 | Matt Simpson | 1 |
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