Tom Ingram battles past Ash Sutton for race three win

Team Vertu’s Tom Ingram further extended his British Touring Car Championship lead with victory in race three at Donington Park, after battling past pole-sitter Ash Sutton early on.

NAPA Racing UK’s Sutton was drawn to start from the reverse-grid pole after finishing eighth in race two, but the four-time champion had to run the less favourable hard tyre in the final race, whilst Ingram, from fifth on the grid, was on the medium compound rubber.

Sutton made a good start to lead away from the lights, but Ingram was quickly into second by the end of the lap after fighting past Toyota duo Árón Taylor-Smith and Josh Cook in the second half of the lap.

Although Sutton had established a 1.2 second lead by the end of the opening tour, Ingram slashed the gap over the next two laps and the two title rivals went toe-to-toe for a lap and a half.

Despite his tyre disadvantage, Sutton valiantly fought on but Ingram squeezed inside at the Melbourne hairpin on the fourth lap, going side-by-side with Sutton for three corners before emerging out of Redgate in the lead.

The Team Vertu driver had opened up a 1.7-second lead over Sutton by lap ten, but the safety car was then called upon when the engine in Nick Halstead’s CUPRA let go at Hollywood corner, with oil on the circuit and his car against the barriers requiring recovery.

Racing resumed on lap 14 for four more laps, but Sutton couldn’t make another challenge on Ingram for the lead, despite remaining within a second of his rival.

Ingram now holds a 32-point lead over Ingram, with just six races left to run in the season.

Daniel Rowbottom completed the podium for NAPA Racing UK, having passed Taylor-Smith for the position at the Melbourne hairpin on lap seven and effectively acting as a rear guard for Sutton thereafter.

Taylor-Smith scored his best result of the season so far in fourth, whilst Laser Tools Racing’s Jake Hill was the leading BMW driver in fifth – the reigning champion having made several bold overtaking moves throughout the race.

Race one winner Tom Chilton was sixth, losing out to Hill three laps from the finish, ahead of Toyota’s Gordon Shedden in seventh.

Restart Racing’s Daniel Lloyd was eighth and took the Independent win, with WSR’s Daryl DeLeon and Charles Rainford completing the top ten, with both drivers moving past the ailing Cook in the closing laps.

Cook took the chequered flag in 11^th, reporting a recurrence of the issue which thwarted his progress on Saturday and in race one.

NAPA’s Dan Cammish was 12^th, struggling on the hard tyre, but getting past WSR’s Aiden Moffat for the place three laps from the end, with Moffat finishing in 13^th.

Whilst Halstead was the only retirement of the race, there were issues for Team Vertu’s Adam Morgan, who had to pit with a mechanical issue, and Restart Racing’s Chris Smiley, who lost 16^th and second in the Independents when he picked up a left-front puncture near the end of the race.

Race result

POS	NO	CL	NAT	DRIVER	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	BEST	GD
1	80	M		Tom INGRAM	Team Vertu	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	17	28:46.321	1:33.621	5
2	116	M		Ashley SUTTON	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	17	0.847	1:34.046	1
3	32	M		Daniel ROWBOTTOM	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	17	2.658	1:33.973	12
4	40	M		Árón TAYLOR-SMITH	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	17	6.502	1:34.886	2
5	1	M		Jake HILL	Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport	BMW 330i M Sport	17	6.680	1:35.242	9
6	3	M		Tom CHILTON	Team Vertu	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	17	7.426	1:34.487	15
7	52	M		Gordon SHEDDEN	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	17	7.740	1:35.204	6
8	123	I		Daniel LLOYD	Restart Racing	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	17	9.186	1:35.055	10
9	2	M		Daryl DELEON	WSR	BMW 330i M Sport	17	10.086	1:34.956	4
10	99	M		Charles RAINFORD	LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR	BMW 330i M Sport	17	12.023	1:35.024	17
11	66	M		Josh COOK	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	17	12.270	1:34.861	3
12	27	M		Dan CAMMISH	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	17	12.425	1:35.585	8
13	16	M		Aiden MOFFAT	LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR	BMW 330i M Sport	17	12.954	1:35.415	11
14	77	M		Sam OSBORNE	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	17	13.317	1:34.944	13
15	18	M		Senna PROCTOR	Team Vertu	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	17	14.222	1:35.488	21
16	17	I		Dexter PATTERSON	ROKiT Racing with Un-Limited Motorsport	CUPRA Leon	17	14.499	1:35.697	16
17	88	I		Mikey DOBLE	Motor Parts Direct with Power Maxed Racing	CUPRA Leon	17	15.412	1:35.792	14
18	19	M		Max BUXTON	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	17	15.968	1:35.295	19
19	28	I		Nicolas HAMILTON	Powder Monkey Brewing Co with Esidock	CUPRA Leon	17	18.222	1:36.140	20
20	33	M		Adam MORGAN	Team Vertu	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	17	1:24.926	1:35.553	7
21	22	I		Chris SMILEY	Restart Racing	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	16	+ 1 LAP	1:35.597	22
R	50	I		Nick HALSTEAD	Motor Parts Direct with Power Maxed Racing	CUPRA Leon	8	DNF	1:37.389	18