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Oulton Park BTCC: Ash Sutton gives BMR Subaru its first win of 2017

Ashley Sutton took Team BMR Subaru's first British Touring Car Championship victory of the 2017 season at Oulton Park when he dominated the second race of the weekend

The 23-year-old leapt from third on the grid into second place away from the line to track Andrew Jordan's fully ballasted WSR BMW, which had won the opening race.

Sutton followed Jordan for one lap before powering alongside Jordan going up Clay Hill for the lead.

He quickly scampered free and built an advantage of nearly two seconds, despite having the less favourable soft tyres on his Levorg GT car.

Jordan struggled to carry the weight and begun to drop down the order, and had to cede second place to his WSR BMW 125i M Sport team-mate Rob Collard at Lodge at the end of lap three.

He chased after Sutton and reduced the gap to one second at the flag.

"I knew the start would be vital and I had to overtake Jordan as soon as possible," said Sutton.

"Going into the race, I had 57kg of success ballast and the softer tyre, so I wasn't expecting much.

"The result is phenomenal. I controlled the pace once I got ahead and was managing the tyres. What a race."

Behind Collard, Team Dynamics Honda Civic Type R driver Matt Neal finished third.

He and team-mate Gordon Shedden had unseated Jordan from third with a double move at Old Hall on lap five, and then the Hondas swapped places three laps later.

"We had done a bit of brokering over the pits-to-car radio," said Neal.

"I let Gordon go to see if he could reel in Collard, but when he wasn't able to, the deal was that he had to give the place back.

"We are fighting each other as well as everyone else, after all."

Behind Shedden in fourth was Jordan, who held off Josh Cook's Maximum Motorsport Ford Focus to the line.

Cook has been drawn on pole for the final reversed grid race of the weekend.

Mat Jackson crossed the line in eighth spot, despite being shown a black flag earlier in the race which was later withdrawn. He headed Rob Austin and Jake Hill.

Championship leader Tom Ingram started in 31st place after retiring with broken suspension in race one.

He again failed to finish as a shunt at the Island Hairpin ruled him out.

Ingram has lost the title advantage to Shedden, who is now five points clear of Collard and the Speedworks driver.

The race start was delayed after Adam Morgan's Mercedes caught fire on the original formation lap.

RESULTS - 14 LAPS:

Pos Driver Team Car Gap
1 Ash Sutton Team BMR Subaru 20m31.536s
2 Rob Collard WSR BMW 1.066s
3 Matt Neal Dynamics/Honda Honda 9.795s
4 Gordon Shedden Dynamics/Honda Honda 10.096s
5 Andrew Jordan WSR BMW 10.443s
6 Josh Cook Maximum Motorsport Ford 10.863s
7 Mat Jackson Motorbase Ford 12.560s
8 Rob Austin Handy Motorsport Toyota 13.196s
9 Jake Hill Team Hard Volkswagen 13.966s
10 Michael Epps Team Hard Volkswagen 14.596s
11 Jason Plato Team BMR Subaru 14.765s
12 Aron Taylor-Smith Triple Eight/MG MG 15.943s
13 Colin Turkington WSR BMW 21.590s
14 Aiden Moffat Laser Tools Racing Mercedes 22.040s
15 Josh Price Team BMR Subaru 22.195s
16 Jack Goff Eurotech Racing Honda 22.607s
17 Luke Davenport Motorbase Ford 22.968s
18 Senna Proctor Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall 23.309s
19 Dave Newsham BTC Racing Chevrolet 24.547s
20 Martin Depper Motorbase Ford 25.174s
21 Jeff Smith Eurotech Racing Honda 25.481s
22 Daniel Lloyd Triple Eight/MG MG 25.678s
23 Stephen Jelley Team Parker Racing Ford 26.711s
24 Tom Chilton Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall 27.018s
25 Matt Simpson Dynamics/Honda Honda 27.814s
26 Ollie Jackson AmD Tuning Audi 29.249s
27 Chris Smiley BTC Racing Chevrolet 30.618s
28 Ant Whorton-Eales AmD Tuning Audi 1 Lap
29 Will Burns Team Hard Volkswagen 2 Laps
- Tom Ingram Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Retirement
- James Cole Team BMR Subaru Retirement
- Adam Morgan Ciceley Racing Mercedes Retirement

RACE THREE STARTING GRID:

Pos Driver Team Car
1 Josh Cook Maximum Motorsport Ford
2 Andrew Jordan WSR BMW
3 Gordon Shedden Dynamics/Honda Honda
4 Matt Neal Dynamics/Honda Honda
5 Rob Collard WSR BMW
6 Ash Sutton Team BMR Subaru
7 Mat Jackson Motorbase Ford
8 Rob Austin Handy Motorsport Toyota
9 Jake Hill Team Hard Volkswagen
10 Michael Epps Team Hard Volkswagen
11 Jason Plato Team BMR Subaru
12 Aron Taylor-Smith Triple Eight/MG MG
13 Colin Turkington WSR BMW
14 Aiden Moffat Laser Tools Racing Mercedes
15 Josh Price Team BMR Subaru
16 Jack Goff Eurotech Racing Honda
17 Luke Davenport Motorbase Ford
18 Senna Proctor Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall
19 Dave Newsham BTC Racing Chevrolet
20 Martin Depper Motorbase Ford
21 Jeff Smith Eurotech Racing Honda
22 Daniel Lloyd Triple Eight/MG MG
23 Stephen Jelley Team Parker Racing Ford
24 Tom Chilton Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall
25 Matt Simpson Dynamics/Honda Honda
26 Ollie Jackson AmD Tuning Audi
27 Chris Smiley BTC Racing Chevrolet
28 Ant Whorton-Eales AmD Tuning Audi
29 Will Burns Team Hard Volkswagen
30 Tom Ingram Speedworks Motorsport Toyota
31 James Cole Team BMR Subaru
32 Adam Morgan Ciceley Racing Mercedes


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