NAPA Racing UK’s Ashley Sutton ended this week’s British Touring Car Championship tyre testing at Snetterton on top of the times, with the reigning champion putting in the quickest lap over the two days on Wednesday morning.
Sutton had been just 16th overall at the conclusion of Tuesday’s testing in Norfolk, over a second off the pace set by Gordon Shedden, but the Motorbase driver then went 0.015 seconds faster than anyone else in Wednesday morning’s session, when lap times were significantly quicker than on the previous day.
The Ford driver pointed out that his quick lap had come at the conclusion of a run in which tyre supplier Goodyear had asked him to try out a different tyre, with team-mate Dan Cammish having been the driver he beat to the top time overall.
“We were selected to do some Goodyear tyre testing,” said Sutton, who with 155 laps completed more tours of the circuit than anyone else.
“So pretty much our whole day was based around testing out the option tyre and a few other things. I kind of took the limelight away from Dan who had raw pace on the right tyre if I’m honest. We were just running a completely different programme, as requested by Goodyear.
“We still made good progress with the car over the two days. We feel like we’ve had a lot of potential and that potential seemed to be showing in Dan’s pace too, but I’m pleased with the two-day tyre test and am looking forward to going to Knockhill and trying out some of the things we’ve learnt.”
In the afternoon session, Sutton was fifth overall as MB Motorsport’s Jake Hill ended the two-day test with the final top time, a lap of 1:55.912.
In the overall classification, Sutton and Cammish came out on top, ahead of Hill in third, thanks to his Wednesday morning effort which was sixth tenths quicker than his session-topping afternoon lap.
In fact, 22 of the 30 drivers ended up posting their best lap of the two-day test on Wednesday morning, when the air temperature was generally in the low 20s, as opposed to the high 20s of a day previous.
Excelr8 Motorsport’s Tom Ingram was fourth, three and a half tenths off the pace, with Team Dynamics’ Gordon Shedden – who had topped both sessions on Tuesday – ending up in fifth as the best of the Hondas.
BTCC newcomers Nick Tandy and Dan Zelos continued testing into Wednesday, although BTCC returnee Jack Mitchell did not take part in track activity on the second day.
Drivers completed over 14 hours of testing, 2,500 laps and 7,200 miles, with Goodyear also involving teams in particular programmes in preparation for 2023.
“Snetterton gives us all we need,” said Goodyear Motorsport Event Manager Mickey Butler. “It’s a mixture of corners, low speed, high speed and great visibility around the track.
“We can understand where we currently are from previous years’ testing and the data we’ve built up. It works really well for us.
“Obviously, we’re in the new hybrid world and we’re still developing our understanding of that, like everybody else, and then also adapt a new tyre for 2023 to make the racing even more exciting.”
Wednesday morning results
POS | NO | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
1 | 1 | Ashley SUTTON | NAPA Racing UK | Ford Focus ST | 54 | 1:55.121 | – | |
2 | 9 | Dan CAMMISH | NAPA Racing UK | Ford Focus ST | 28 | 1:55.136 | 0.015 | |
3 | 24 | Jake HILL | ROKiT MB Motorsport | BMW 330e M Sport | 41 | 1:55.391 | 0.270 | |
4 | 80 | Tom INGRAM | Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com | Hyundai i30 Fastback N | 21 | 1:55.485 | 0.364 | |
5 | 52 | Gordon SHEDDEN | Halfords Racing with Cataclean | Honda Civic Type R | 24 | 1:55.515 | 0.394 | |
6 | 21 | Ricky COLLARD | Toyota GAZOO Racing UK | Toyota Corolla GR Sport | 34 | 1:55.698 | 0.577 | |
7 | 777 | Michael CREES | CarStore Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 29 | 1:55.849 | 0.728 | |
8 | 11 | Jason PLATO | Rich Energy BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 35 | 1:56.018 | 0.897 | |
9 | 32 | Daniel ROWBOTTOM | Halfords Racing with Cataclean | Honda Civic Type R | 5 | 1:56.078 | 0.957 | |
10 | 12 | Stephen JELLEY | Team BMW | BMW 330e M Sport | 14 | 1:56.079 | 0.958 | |
11 | 19 | Bobby THOMPSON | Autobrite Direct with JourneyHero | CUPRA Leon | 34 | 1:56.084 | 0.963 | |
12 | 33 | Adam MORGAN | Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport | BMW 330e M Sport | 40 | 1:56.200 | 1.079 | |
13 | 97 | Ash HAND | CarStore Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 31 | 1:56.392 | 1.271 | |
14 | 50 | Colin TURKINGTON | Team BMW | BMW 330e M Sport | 41 | 1:56.577 | 1.456 | |
15 | 77 | Nick TANDY 2 | Apec Racing with Beavis Morgan | Ford Focus ST | 22 | 1:56.621 | 1.500 | |
16 | 6 | Rory BUTCHER | Toyota GAZOO Racing UK | Toyota Corolla GR Sport | 14 | 1:56.734 | 1.613 | |
17 | 3 | Tom CHILTON | Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com | Hyundai i30 Fastback N | 26 | 1:56.942 | 1.821 | |
18 | 16 | Aiden MOFFAT | Laser Tools Racing | Infiniti Q50 | 25 | 1:57.031 | 1.910 | |
19 | 40 | Árón TAYLOR-SMITH | Yazoo with Safuu.com Racing | CUPRA Leon | 40 | 1:57.064 | 1.943 | |
20 | 45 | Dan ZELOS | Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com | Hyundai i30 Fastback N | 28 | 1:57.073 | 1.952 | |
21 | 17 | Dexter PATTERSON | Laser Tools Racing | Infiniti Q50 | 12 | 1:57.527 | 2.406 | |
22 | 48 | Ollie JACKSON | Apec Racing with Beavis Morgan | Ford Focus ST | 27 | 1:58.021 | 2.900 | |
23 | 20 | Will POWELL | Autobrite Direct with JourneyHero | CUPRA Leon | 25 | 1:58.079 | 2.958 | |
24 | 77 | Sam OSBORNE | Apec Racing with Beavis Morgan | Ford Focus ST | 13 | 1:58.214 | 3.093 | |
25 | 42 | George GAMBLE | Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport | BMW 330e M Sport | 5 | 1:58.242 | 3.121 | |
26 | 28 | Nicolas HAMILTON | Yazoo with Safuu.com Racing | CUPRA Leon | 23 | 1:58.282 | 3.161 | |
27 | 123 | Daniel LLOYD | Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com | Hyundai i30 Fastback N | 1 | No time | N/A |
Wednesday afternoon results
POS | NO | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
1 | 24 | Jake HILL | ROKiT MB Motorsport | BMW 330e M Sport | 28 | 1:55.912 | – | |
2 | 32 | Daniel ROWBOTTOM | Halfords Racing with Cataclean | Honda Civic Type R | 15 | 1:55.918 | 0.006 | |
3 | 9 | Dan CAMMISH | NAPA Racing UK | Ford Focus ST | 20 | 1:56.217 | 0.305 | |
4 | 80 | Tom INGRAM | Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com | Hyundai i30 Fastback N | 22 | 1:56.257 | 0.345 | |
5 | 1 | Ashley SUTTON | NAPA Racing UK | Ford Focus ST | 44 | 1:56.311 | 0.399 | |
6 | 123 | Daniel LLOYD | Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com | Hyundai i30 Fastback N | 30 | 1:56.406 | 0.494 | |
7 | 77 | Nick TANDY 2 | Apec Racing with Beavis Morgan | Ford Focus ST | 18 | 1:56.473 | 0.561 | |
8 | 19 | Bobby THOMPSON | Autobrite Direct with JourneyHero | CUPRA Leon | 13 | 1:56.478 | 0.566 | |
9 | 12 | Stephen JELLEY | Team BMW | BMW 330e M Sport | 25 | 1:56.495 | 0.583 | |
10 | 66 | Josh COOK | Rich Energy BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 15 | 1:56.613 | 0.701 | |
11 | 21 | Ricky COLLARD | Toyota GAZOO Racing UK | Toyota Corolla GR Sport | 23 | 1:56.614 | 0.702 | |
12 | 52 | Gordon SHEDDEN | Halfords Racing with Cataclean | Honda Civic Type R | 36 | 1:56.727 | 0.815 | |
13 | 33 | Adam MORGAN | Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport | BMW 330e M Sport | 39 | 1:56.928 | 1.016 | |
14 | 6 | Rory BUTCHER | Toyota GAZOO Racing UK | Toyota Corolla GR Sport | 15 | 1:56.948 | 1.036 | |
15 | 50 | Colin TURKINGTON | Team BMW | BMW 330e M Sport | 24 | 1:57.283 | 1.371 | |
16 | 48 | Ollie JACKSON | Apec Racing with Beavis Morgan | Ford Focus ST | 22 | 1:57.371 | 1.459 | |
17 | 40 | Árón TAYLOR-SMITH | Yazoo with Safuu.com Racing | CUPRA Leon | 11 | 1:57.464 | 1.552 | |
18 | 3 | Tom CHILTON | Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com | Hyundai i30 Fastback N | 32 | 1:57.652 | 1.740 | |
19 | 16 | Aiden MOFFAT | Laser Tools Racing | Infiniti Q50 | 23 | 1:57.694 | 1.782 | |
20 | 45 | Dan ZELOS | Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com | Hyundai i30 Fastback N | 23 | 1:57.999 | 2.087 | |
21 | 17 | Dexter PATTERSON | Laser Tools Racing | Infiniti Q50 | 18 | 1:58.125 | 2.213 | |
22 | 77 | Sam OSBORNE | Apec Racing with Beavis Morgan | Ford Focus ST | 10 | 1:58.288 | 2.376 | |
23 | 11 | Jason PLATO | Rich Energy BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 11 | 1:58.330 | 2.418 | |
24 | 97 | Ash HAND | CarStore Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 8 | 1:58.478 | 2.566 | |
25 | 28 | Nicolas HAMILTON | Yazoo with Safuu.com Racing | CUPRA Leon | 10 | 2:00.922 | 5.010 |
Tuesday and Wednesday combined results
POS | NO | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
1 | 1 | Ashley SUTTON | NAPA Racing UK | Ford Focus ST | 155 | 1:55.121 | – | |
2 | 9 | Dan CAMMISH | NAPA Racing UK | Ford Focus ST | 99 | 1:55.136 | 0.015 | |
3 | 24 | Jake HILL | ROKiT MB Motorsport | BMW 330e M Sport | 107 | 1:55.391 | 0.270 | |
4 | 80 | Tom INGRAM | Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com | Hyundai i30 Fastback N | 92 | 1:55.485 | 0.364 | |
5 | 52 |