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Ash Sutton on top overall in Snetterton tyre testing

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.

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“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