Subaru’s Ash Sutton is aiming to secure back-to-back victories in the British Touring Car Championship races at Knockhill, after the reigning champion secured victory in the wet first race of the day.
From eighth on the grid Sutton was the class of the field to charge to victory, which has elevated the 24-year-old to just 27 points behind in the title fight.
The Team BMR driver now says he is aiming for victory in race two, as carrying the maximum 75 kg of success ballast is perceived to be less of a hindrance in wet weather conditions.
“I love these conditions and we’ve got a really good little package when it comes to Knockhill,” said Sutton to TouringCars.Net. “It just suits the Dunlop tyre and my driving style. We’ve got it all dialled in to suit that and in these conditions it seems to shine for us.
“I would like to think that we can keep the momentum going into race two, then race three will be about damage limitation.”
Sutton is mindful of the threat from the front-wheel drive cars, who have been closer this year than in 2017, and he hopes to be able to maximise his advantage as he fears the next event at Silverstone will be a struggle.
“I don’t think this is so much a rear-wheel drive track anymore – we’ve got front-wheel drive cars pushing us around and sticking it on pole, so we’re losing that.
“Whether that’s due to the 30 kg of ballast that we’re carrying extra from last year, or whether it’s the new tarmac, there’s two things there that have got question marks on them.
“It still favours us a fraction, but we’ve got to make hay whilst the sun is shining. We’re going to keep our head down, knuckle down, get the results here and then hope for damage limitation at Silverstone.”