Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

BTCC Rockingham: Sutton strengthens title defence with race two win

Reigning champion Ash Sutton won the second race of the British Touring Car Championship at Rockingham on a damp-but-drying track to put himself in the hunt for this year's title

Race one winner Adam Morgan started the event from pole position in his Ciceley Racing Mercedes-Benz A-Class fitted with 75kg, but Sutton's Team BMR Subaru Levorg powered clear away from the line to dominate the race despite two safety car interruptions.

The 24-year-old eventually finished nearly 4.5s ahead of Morgan and has now moved into third place in the points, just 17 off table-topper Tom Ingram (Speedworks Toyota).

"We certain made the right choice on tyres," said Sutton. "I went to the grid on wet tyres and only then fitted the slicks, and so I didn't have as much temperature as those around me.

"But we played it well and I managed to get the grip quite quickly. What a race and the guys in the team have played a huge role in this so thanks to them."

Third place went to Ingram after a sensational drive through the pack in his Avensis.

He had started from 27th place after a fly-by-wire throttle problem in the opening race, but picked his way through the field and claimed third when Senna Proctor's Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall Astra slid wide at the final chicane on lap 17.

"That was one heck of a drive - I just wished we didn't have to do it at all," said Ingram.

"I managed to get to 12th place within a few laps, and my engineer came on the radio and said I had plenty of time to get the rest. I just knuckled down and got on with it."

Proctor held on for fourth place, ahead of Colin Turkington's WSR BMW 125i M Sport and Chris Smiley's BTC Norlin Honda Civic.

Mike Bushell's Team Hard VW CC had run in third place early on, but dropped back down the order to seventh position, ahead of Rory Butcher's AmDTuning MG, Matt Simpson's Eurotech Honda and Tom Chilton's Motorbase Ford Focus, which has been drawn on pole for race three.

Result - 19 laps

Pos Driver Team Car Gap
1 Ash Sutton Team BMR Subaru 29m33.566s
2 Adam Morgan Ciceley Motorsport Mercedes 4.426s
3 Tom Ingram Speedworks Toyota 5.315s
4 Senna Proctor Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall 7.327s
5 Colin Turkington WSR BMW 8.170s
6 Mike Bushell Team Hard Volkswagen 12.469s
7 Chris Smiley BTC Norlin Honda 12.579s
8 Rory Butcher AmD Tuning MG 12.722s
9 Matt Simpson Eurotech Racing Honda 15.417s
10 Tom Chilton Motorbase Ford 16.541s
11 Ollie Jackson AmD Tuning Audi 17.481s
12 Josh Cook Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall 19.791s
13 Andrew Jordan WSR BMW 19.924s
14 Matt Neal Team Dynamics Honda 21.876s
15 Jack Goff Eurotech Racing Honda 24.316s
16 Daniel Lloyd BTC Norlin Honda 24.741s
17 Tom Oliphant Ciceley Motorsport Mercedes 28.402s
18 Sam Tordoff Motorbase Ford 28.724s
19 James Cole Motorbase Ford 30.956s
20 Ricky Collard WSR BMW 31.254s
21 Dan Cammish Team Dynamics Honda 32.099s
22 Glynn Geddie AmD Tuning MG 33.034s
23 Sam Smelt AmD Tuning Audi 33.800s
24 Brett Smith Eurotech Racing Honda 34.877s
25 Ollie Pidgley Team Hard Volkswagen 39.823s
26 Jason Plato Team BMR Subaru 1 Lap
- Rob Austin HMS Racing Alfa Romeo Retirement
- Bobby Thompson Team Hard Volkswagen Retirement
- Michael Caine Team Hard Volkswagen Retirement
- Aiden Moffat Laser Tools Racing Mercedes Retirement
- Stephen Jelley Team Parker Racing BMW Retirement

Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation
Previous article BTCC Rockingham: Morgan dominates first race in tricky conditions
Next article Smiley claims maiden BTCC victory in final Rockingham race

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe