Ash Sutton beats Tom Ingram to pole in wet Thruxton qualifying

Ash Sutton beat Tom Ingram to pole position in a very wet British Touring Car Championship qualifying session at Thruxton, which saw multiple red flag interruptions.

NAPA Racing UK’s Sutton had topped all three of the qualifying parts he competed in, and when Q3 was red-flagged due to Team Vertu’s Senna Proctor stopping on track with an electrical issue, it looked like a done deal, with drivers allowed back out to post only one more flying lap each but on an increasingly wet circuit.

Ingram had earlier posted his best lap of 1 minute 21.080 seconds just before the red flag, just under three tenths slower than Sutton, despite a huge slide on the exit of the final chicane, when the Team Vertu driver put two wheels of his Hyundai onto the grass on the run to the timing line.

NAPA’s Dan Cammish was third quickest, attempting to improve on his final flying lap but ending up 0.314 seconds adrift of pole.

Power Maxed Racing’s Mikey Doble was the leading Independent driver in fourth, just under half a second off the pace, whilst Toyota’s James Dorlin qualified in fifth – despite an early Q3 spin – as the only other driver to post a time, leaving Proctor to qualify in sixth on his BTCC return.

Team Vertu’s Tom Chilton was seventh, having made an improvement in the dying seconds of Q2 to bag a fourth-row start for race one, but a tenth shy of getting into Q3.

Likewise, Laser Tools Racing’s Jake Hill made a late improvement in Q2 but was subsequently demoted by Dorlin and Chilton, leaving the Laser Tools Racing driver to start eighth for race one.

The top ten was completed by Toyota’s Gordon Shedden, who got through to Q2 for the first time in 2025, and NAPA’s Daniel Rowbottom.

WSR’s Charles Rainford was 11^th, having gone off on his final flying lap – which was set to be an improvement – and gently hit the barriers, ahead of Un-Limited Motorsport’s Dexter Patterson in 12^th, who put in his best qualifying effort of the season so far.

The first Q1 group session largely went off without incident, but in the second session there was a lengthy red-flag stoppage when One Motorsport’s Josh Cook crashed heavily into the barriers at Village corner, after going wide on the exit and then being helpless on the wet grass, his Honda hitting the barriers hard front-on.

Cook was able to walk away from the crash, albeit with a limp, although he lost his best time due to causing the red flag and then fell out of the top six, ultimately qualifying in 14^th, behind WSR’s Daryl DeLeon in 13^th. Cook later went to hospital for a precautionary checkup.

Daniel Lloyd was the leading Restart Racing driver in 15^th in what was a frustrating session for the team, which had earlier topped second practice with Chris Smiley when Lloyd was seventh.

In the end, Smiley was just 17^th, the two Hyundais being split by Team Vertu’s Adam Morgan in 16^th, who had had his own off with a minute to go, nudging his car into the barriers.

Nick Halstead didn’t take part in the session, having gone to hospital for a check up after first practice, complaining of pains possibly linked with an accident he had at Donington Park last weekend.

Race one gets underway at 11:45 BST on Sunday.

‘Quick Six’ result

POS	NO	NAT	DRIVER	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	GAP
1	116		Ashley SUTTON	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	6	1:20.786	–
2	80		Tom INGRAM	Team Vertu	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	6	1:21.080	0.294
3	27		Dan CAMMISH	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	6	1:21.100	0.314
4	88		Mikey DOBLE	Motor Parts Direct with Power Maxed Racing	Vauxhall Astra	6	1:21.270	0.484
5	132		James DORLIN	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	5	1:22.640	1.854
6	18		Senna PROCTOR	Team Vertu	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	3	No time	N/A

Drivers failing to progress from Q2

POS	NO	NAT	DRIVER	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	GAP
7	3		Tom CHILTON	Team Vertu	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	7	1:22.652	1.640
8	1		Jake HILL	Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport	BMW 330i M Sport	6	1:22.663	1.651
9	52		Gordon SHEDDEN	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	7	1:22.708	1.696
10	32		Daniel ROWBOTTOM	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	6	1:22.906	1.894
11	99		Charles RAINFORD	LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR	BMW 330i M Sport	7	1:22.995	1.983
12	17		Dexter PATTERSON	ROKiT Racing with Un-Limited Motorsport	CUPRA Leon	7	1:23.520	2.508

Drivers failing to progress from Q1

POS	NO	NAT	DRIVER	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	GAP
13	2		Daryl DELEON	WSR	BMW 330i M Sport	7	1:23.635	2.103
14	66		Josh COOK	One Motorsport	Honda Civic Type-R	5	1:24.231	1.990
15	123		Daniel LLOYD	Restart Racing	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	7	1:23.976	2.444
16	33		Adam MORGAN	Team Vertu	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	8	1:25.058	2.817
17	22		Chris SMILEY	Restart Racing	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	6	1:24.064	2.532
18	93		Max HALL	ROKiT Racing with Un-Limited Motorsport	CUPRA Leon	7	1:26.357	4.116
19	12		Stephen JELLEY	One Motorsport	Honda Civic Type-R	7	1:24.302	2.770
20	16		Aiden MOFFAT	LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR	BMW 330i M Sport	8	1:26.395	4.154
21	77		Sam OSBORNE	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	6	1:27.831	6.299
22	14		Ronan PEARSON	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	8	1:26.473	4.232
23	40		Árón TAYLOR-SMITH	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	6	1:23.843	2.311
24	28		Nicolas HAMILTON	Powder Monkey Brewing Co with Esidock	CUPRA Leon	4	1:37.360	15.119
25	50		Nick HALSTEAD	Motor Parts Direct with Power Maxed Racing	Vauxhall Astra	0	No time	N/A