Subaru’s Ash Sutton took victory in the second British Touring Car Championship race at Rockingham, jumping into the lead at the very start to take his fourth win of the year ahead of Ciceley Motorsport’s Adam Morgan.
Sutton beat pole-sitter and race one victor Morgan on the run to the first corner, using the rear-wheel drive advantage of his Subaru get take an early lead.
Further back, an incident between James Cole and Stephen Jelley left the latter beached in the gravel at the exit of Pif Paf, necessitating a safety car intervention to recover the stricken BMW.
The race only resumed for a few more laps before the safety car was required for a second time when Michael Caine was helped off the road by Brett Smith at the exit of the hairpin, pausing the race for two further laps.
When racing resumed on lap eight Sutton immediately set about restoring his comfortable margin over Morgan, and he claimed his fourth win of the season by a gap of over four seconds ahead of Morgan, moving the reigning champion to third in the standings, just 17 points adrift of the lead.
“It was kind of reliving race two at Snetterton,” said Sutton. “We made the right call at the last minute for sure, as on the grid we were on wets. To get off the line like we did and hold and manage a gap – I’m over the moon with that.
“It’s very much like last year [with the wins] – better late than never. We’re getting comfortable with the car now, especially in race trim, and the Adrian Flux Racing boys have done a great job.”
An impressive third was Speedworks Motorsport’s Tom Ingram, who scythed through the field from 27th on the grid after his race one dramas, pressuring those ahead of him into mistakes or simply passing through sheer pace.
Power Maxed Racing’s Senna Proctor was fourth, despite twice skipping the chicane in the closing stages of the race, ahead of Team BMW’s Colin Turkington in fifth.
BTC Norlin Racing’s Chris Smiley took sixth, having got past Team HARD’s Mike Bushell on the last lap of the race at the Tarzan hairpin, with Bushell having slipped back from a potential podium finish to take the chequered flag in seventh.
AmD Tuning’s Rory Butcher scored his best result of the season in his MG in eighth, whilst Simpson Racing’s Matt Simpson and Motorbase’s Tom Chilton completed the top ten.
Bobby Thompson had been running in the lower ranks of the top ten, until contact from Simpson and then Ollie Jackson at the chicane spun the Team HARD driver out of the race and into retirement.
Subaru’s Jason Plato was running in 26th position until he had to pit for mechanics to remove a loose part of the floor at the rear of his car, and he eventually finished a lap down.
Race three is scheduled to get underway at 16:45 BST.
Race result
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 1 | M | Ashley SUTTON |  |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 19 | 29:33.566 | 1:24.758 | 2 |
| 2 | 33 | Adam MORGAN | |
MAC Tools with Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 19 | 4.426 | 1:25.463 | 1 | |
| 3 | 80 | Tom INGRAM | |
Speedworks Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 19 | 5.315 | 1:24.579 | 27 | |
| 4 | 18 | M | Senna PROCTOR | |
Power Maxed TAG Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 19 | 7.327 | 1:24.917 | 12 |
| 5 | 2 | M | Colin TURKINGTON | |
Team BMW | BMW 125i M Sport | 19 | 8.170 | 1:25.201 | 7 |
| 6 | 22 | Chris SMILEY | |
BTC Norlin Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 19 | 11.779 | 1:25.413 | 4 | |
| 7 | 21 | Mike BUSHELL | |
Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing | Volkswagen CC | 19 | 12.469 | 1:25.456 | 6 | |
| 8 | 6 | Rory BUTCHER | |
AmD with AutoAid / RCIB Insurance Racing | MG 6 | 19 | 12.722 | 1:25.267 | 9 | |
| 9 | 303 | Matt SIMPSON | |
Simpson Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 19 | 15.417 | 1:25.540 | 10 | |
| 10 | 3 | Tom CHILTON | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher | Ford Focus RS | 19 | 16.541 | 1:25.474 | 3 | |
| 11 | 48 | Ollie JACKSON | |
AmD with Cobra Exhausts | Audi S3 | 19 | 17.481 | 1:25.615 | 16 | |
| 12 | 66 | M | Josh COOK | |
Power Maxed TAG Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 19 | 19.791 | 1:25.473 | 28 |
| 13 | 77 | M | Andrew JORDAN | |
BMW Pirtek Racing | BMW 125i M Sport | 19 | 19.924 | 1:25.074 | 15 |
| 14 | 25 | M | Matt NEAL | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 19 | 21.876 | 1:25.297 | 18 |
| 15 | 31 | Jack GOFF | |
WIX Racing with Eurotech | Honda Civic Type R | 19 | 24.316 | 1:26.087 | 13 | |
| 16 | 26 | Daniel LLOYD | |
BTC Norlin Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 19 | 24.741 | 1:25.120 | 21 | |
| 17 | 15 | Tom OLIPHANT | |
Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 19 | 28.402 | 1:25.855 | 25 | |
| 18 | 600 | Sam TORDOFF | |
Team GardX Racing with Motorbase | Ford Focus RS | 19 | 28.724 | 1:25.446 | 29 | |
| 19 | 20 | James COLE | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher | Ford Focus RS | 19 | 30.956 | 1:25.298 | 19 | |
| 20 | 55 | M | Ricky COLLARD | |
Team BMW | BMW 125i M Sport | 19 | 31.254 | 1:25.503 | 17 |
| 21 | 27 | M | Dan CAMMISH | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 19 | 32.099 | 1:25.127 | 5 |
| 22 | 41 | Glynn GEDDIE | |
AmD with AutoAid / RCIB Insurance Racing | MG 6 | 19 | 33.034 | 1:25.527 | 22 | |
| 23 | 23 | Sam SMELT | |
AmD with Cobra Exhausts | Audi S3 | 19 | 33.800 | 1:25.723 | 30 | |
| 24 | 39 | Brett SMITH | |
WIX Racing with Eurotech | Honda Civic Type R | 19 | 34.877 | 1:26.182 | 26 | |
| 25 | 43 | Ollie PIDGLEY | |
Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing | Volkswagen CC | 19 | 39.823 | 1:26.738 | 31 | |
| 26 | 99 | M | Jason PLATO | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 18 | 1 Lap | 1:25.124 | 23 |
| R | 11 | Rob AUSTIN | |
DUO Motorsport with HMS Racing | Alfa Romeo Giulietta | 16 | DNF | 1:26.264 | 11 | |
| R | 19 | Bobby THOMPSON | |
Team HARD. with Trade Price Cars | Volkswagen CC | 12 | DNF | 1:25.110 | 24 | |
| R | 44 | Michael CAINE | |
Team HARD. with Trade Price Cars | Volkswagen CC | 4 | DNF | 1:29.776 | 20 | |
| R | 16 | Aiden MOFFAT | |
Laser Tools Racing | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 1 | DNF | N/A | 8 | |
| R | 60 | Stephen JELLEY | |
Team Parker Racing | BMW 125i M Sport | 0 | DNF | N/A | 14 |