Bishops Stortford born Ashley Sutton took his second Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship title at Brands Hatch last weekend, winning it in spectacular style, in the last race of the year.
Going into the final three rounds of the campaign, there were still five drivers left in the hunt, so it wasn’t all that easy for Sutton. He still had to beat reigning champion Colin Turkington, Dan Cammish, Tom Ingram and Rory Butcher.
Sutton Takes The Championship Lead
Round 25 was marred by extremely wet weather conditions with Ingram starting on pole position. Motorbase Performance’s Rory Butcher was behind him in second with Sutton in third.
From the start, Sutton immediately took second place from Butcher and was charging down the leading Ingram.
After slipping down to third, Butcher then found himself tumbling down the pecking order to fourth as Cammish squeezed through. Championship leader Turkington started in eighth and hadn’t gained any positions from the start.
Nicolas Hamilton went off on the first lap after a touch from Senna Proctor.
Cammish then gained second, diving past Sutton and relegating him to third. Ethan Hammerton went off on lap four but was able to re-join the race.
Defend
Ingram had to defend hard for his lead with Cammish eventually overtaking him on lap five but had to give the position back after going off the track making the move.
The safety car made an appearance on lap eight when Sam Osborne and Glynn Geddie collided at Druids.
Once the race resumed, Ingram was unable to defend and was overtaken by Cammish after the Halfords Yuasa Racing driver spent many frustrating laps stuck behind the Toyota Corolla.
Turkington fell further down the order to ninth as Sutton grabbed second in the closing stages from a tiring Ingram.
Crossing the line, Cammish was victorious with Sutton in second and Ingram third.
Butcher was fourth and now out of the championship running whilst teammate Jackson finished in fifth.
Sixth was Jake Hill with Matt Neal seventh and Josh Cook eighth.
Turkington finished ninth with teammate Tom Oliphant behind him in 10th.
Adam Morgan finished 11th with Tom Chilton securing 12th and Chris Smiley finishing in 13th.
Aiden Moffat finished 14th whilst Paul Rivett got the final points paying position in 15th.
With the result, Sutton gained the championship lead as Turkington dropped to second in the standings. Cammish and Ingram still remained in the fight and sat third and fourth respectively.
Turkington Gets Penalised
The weather had cleared up going into round 26, but the track was still sufficiently wet.
At the start of the race, it was proved that the wet tyre was the strongest to start with, when Tom Chilton went flying up 11 places to take the race lead at the end of the first lap.
Ingram found himself falling down the order to 11th after taking a slide on the first corner as his dry tyres struggled on a still damp and greasy track surface. Sutton maintained second despite also starting on the dry tyres with Cammish in third and Turkington fighting lower down the order in seventh.
The slick tyres eventually warmed up and Sutton was able to claim the race lead on the seventh lap.
Turkington had some good pace and was up to fifth by lap 12, but after contact with Hill and Cook, he was left with bodywork rubbing on his his front right tyre, causing plumes of smoke as he navigated his way around the Kent circuit.
Stranded
Rivett was left stranded in the middle of the track on the exit of Paddock Hill Bend as third placed Cammish slowed to avoid the stationary car. This left Turkington a gap to sneak his way through, but the overtake had to be investigated after the race due to it happening under yellow flags.
Come the chequered flag, Sutton gained the win, putting him further ahead in the championship fight. Ingram came second with Turkington third. However, the Northern Irishman was demoted down to fourth after the race for his yellow flag infringement, putting Cammish ahead in third.
Despite securing another podium finish, Ingram was now out of the championship hunt with only Sutton, Turkington and Cammish still in contention heading into the final race of the season.
Jackson finished in fifth with Morgan in sixth and Hill in seventh.
Proctor claimed eighth spot with Cook ninth and Butcher 10th.
Smiley finished 11th with Moffat 12th and Michael Crees in 13th as he wrapped up the Jack Sears Trophy.
Osborne finished in 14th as Oliphant came home in 15th place.
Sutton Takes No Unnecessary Risks
The final race of the 2020 BTCC took another wet turn as the rain re-appeared just before start time. The reverse grid meant Sutton started 12th whilst Turkington started in ninth and Cammish in 10th.
Turkington climbed up to fifth over the first couple of laps with Sutton coming through to 10th, not needing to risk much as Cammish moved into eighth.
Stephen Jelley went off into the gravel on lap four, but no safety car was brought out due to the position of his car being deemed safe enough to keep racing.
On lap seven, a train started to form from fifth place through to 10th as Ingram claimed fifth from Turkington with Sutton also moving up to ninth.
Turkington fell down to seventh and was struggling on the wet track as Sutton crept up behind him as he moved into eighth.
Risks
It took until lap 19 for Sutton to finally overtake Turkington, with the Laser Tools Racing driver not willing to take any unnecessary risks a championship on the line.
As the chequered flag flew, Butcher came through to claim the final race win of the season with Ingram behind him in second as Hill rounded out the podium positions in third.
After a valiant effort, Cammish came home in fourth with Morgan fifth and Sutton sixth as he claimed his second BTCC title.
Cook finished the season in seventh with Moffat eighth and the out-going champion Turkington in ninth.
Jackson came home in 10th with Chilton in 11th and Smiley 12th.
Oliphant finished in 13th with Neal 14th and Crees 15th.
Sutton Claims The Treble as Other Champions Are Crowned
Pairing with Sutton’s championship win, his Laser Tools Racing team claimed the Independent Teams trophy. They beat the Motorbase Performance drivers of Butcher, Jackson and Andy Neate who were unable to claim the trophy for themselves, even though they had one extra driver more than the Scottish-based outfit.
Sutton also took the Independent drivers’ championship too.
BMW clamed the Manufacturers title whilst Team BMW also took the Teams’ title. Turkington claimed the Goodyear Wingfoot Award for being the best qualifier over the course of the season.
Crees’ Jack Sears Trophy triumph was a special moment for him as it is something, he himself admitted, that he was working towards throughout the year. Incidents to Carl Boardley and Osborne helped the BTC Racing driver get his hands on the trophy.
Bobby Thompson Looks Ahead To 2021
Dagenham-based Bobby Thompson couldn’t compete for the Jack Sear honours as he was still recovering from his shunt at Croft a month ago. Ethan Hammerton stepped in to drive for the Essex-based GKR Trade Price Cars Racing team.
Thompson said on Facebook: “Given how things had been going at Croft before the accident, and the fact we were leading the standings, it’s a real shame that we couldn’t try and go for the title but sadly there was nothing we could do about it. If there is one positive thing, then at least I’ve had to miss races behind closed doors, as it would have been a lot more difficult if I knew I had fans and sponsors there cheering me on trackside.
“My focus now turns to next season and working towards putting a deal in place for 2021. My sponsors are excited about the future and I’m working hard on being ready to go when the new season comes around.”
Header image courtesy of BTCC/Jakob Ebrey
