Tom Ingram heads Ash Sutton in final Thruxton race

Team VERTU’s Tom Ingram claimed victory ahead of NAPA Racing UK’s Ash Sutton in the final British Touring Car Championship race of the day at Thruxton – although Ingram’s start remains under investigation.

Randomly drawn to start from second for the reverse-grid race, with Restart Racing’s James Dorlin alongside on pole, Ingram wasted no time in passing the Independent Hyundai driver.

Ingram muscled ahead of Dorlin at the complex on the opening lap, whilst Sutton was up to fourth, from the sixth on the grid, thanks to a strong start.

Sutton passed team-mate Dan Cammish for third up Woodham Hill at the end of the lap, but the race was neutralised behind the safety car at the end of the lap when several drivers came together at the chicane.

It all kicked off when Toyota’s Josh Cook and Plato Racing’s Adam Morgan made contact under braking whilst battling for sixth; as the two were slowed into the chicane, Cook was partially turned around by Morgan on the exit, into the path of Laser Tools Racing’s Árón Taylor-Smith, who was turned into the barriers.

Also caught up in the drama was Power Maxed Racing’s Mikey Doble, who hit the back of Morgan. The result saw Taylor-Smith and Morgan limp to the pits and out of the race.

Further around the circuit, NAPA’s Lewis Selby and Toyota’s Ryan Bensley made contact, immediately breaking the former’s left-rear suspension. Bensley continued to the pits, but his front-right suspension then failed on pit exit, requiring his car to be recovered and further extending the safety car period.

Racing finally resumed on lap nine, with Sutton sublimely passing Dorlin for second with a strong exit from Church corner and completing the pass into the chicane.

By this time, stewards had announced an investigation into Ingram’s start, with the Team VERTU driver having reversed back into his grid box before the starting lights came on.

With that in mind, Ingram kept his head down for the remainder of the race, posting a fastest lap which was over a second quicker than anyone else to win his second race of the season by 5.6 seconds from Sutton – the two-time champion admitting that he wanted a gap larger than five seconds to potentially mitigate a future penalty.

By finishing in second Sutton has now finished in the top two positions in 12 out of this year’s 15 races, continuing a dominant run of form.

NAPA’s Dan Cammish completed the podium, the Yorkshireman continuing a strong run of podium form at the Hampshire circuit in recent years.

Team VERTU’s Ricky Collard was fourth, initially moving into fifth with a pass on Daniel Rowbottom exiting the chicane, before securing fourth when he made a daring pass on Dorlin at the high-speed Church corner on lap 11 – expertly holding a slide in the process.

NAPA’s Senna Proctor was fifth, whilst Dorlin ultimately fell to sixth by the chequered flag, nonetheless finishing the race as the leading Independent for both the second time in succession and the second time this year.

Laser Tools Racing’s Gordon Shedden was seventh, ahead of the Team VERTU Hyundai of Tom Chilton in eighth, the latter having made two places in the final two laps.

Power Maxed Racing’s Dexter Patterson was ninth after an opportunistic move on the final lap saw him pass both Plato Racing’s Rowbottom and team-mate Doble after the duo slowed each other battling ahead of him; Doble ultimately completed the top ten.

Rowbottom was 11^th, having lost two places at the end, whilst 12^th-placed Daryl De Leon was the top BMW driver on a difficult weekend which saw not a single top ten result for the WSR team.

Toyota’s race one winner Josh Cook ultimately retired from the race after 13 laps when the damage to his Corolla took its toll.

Sutton leaves Thruxton, the mid-point of the season, with a substantial 59-point advantage over Ingram.

Race result

POS	NO	CL	NAT	DRIVER	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	BEST	GD
1	80	M		Tom INGRAM	Team VERTU	Hyundai i30 Fastback N	19	27:49.942	1:15.705	2
2	116	M		Ashley SUTTON	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus Titanium	19	5.663	1:16.920	6
3	27	M		Dan CAMMISH	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus Titanium	19	9.603	1:17.016	4
4	11	M		Ricky COLLARD	Team VERTU	Hyundai i30 Fastback N	19	10.167	1:16.808	11
5	18	M		Senna PROCTOR	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus Titanium	19	12.261	1:16.865	15
6	132	I		James DORLIN	Restart Racing	Hyundai i30 Fastback N	19	16.857	1:17.549	1
7	52	I		Gordon SHEDDEN	Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	19	19.473	1:17.679	10
8	3	M		Tom CHILTON	Team VERTU	Hyundai i30 Fastback N	19	20.149	1:17.734	12
9	17	I		Dexter PATTERSON	Steel Seal with Power Maxed Racing	Audi A3 Saloon	19	21.268	1:17.533	16
10	88	I		Mikey DOBLE	LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing	Audi A3 Saloon	19	21.584	1:17.637	8
11	32	M		Daniel ROWBOTTOM	Cataclean Plato Racing	Mercedes A35 Saloon	19	22.287	1:17.117	3
12	2	I		Daryl DE LEON	WSR	BMW 330i M Sport	19	22.589	1:17.871	14
13	22	I		Chris SMILEY	Restart Racing	Hyundai i30 Fastback N	19	29.791	1:17.825	17
14	99	I		Charles RAINFORD	WSR	BMW 330i M Sport	19	30.517	1:18.558	13
15	28	M		Nicolas HAMILTON	Team VERTU	Hyundai i30 Fastback N	19	34.608	1:18.812	20
16	29	I		Lewis GILBERT	WSR	BMW 330i M Sport	19	35.146	1:18.609	21
R	16	I		Aiden MOFFAT	LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing	Audi A3 Saloon	13	DNF	1:17.678	22
R	66	M		Josh COOK	Speedworks Corolla Racing	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	13	DNF	1:18.963	5
R	33	M		Adam MORGAN	Cataclean Plato Racing	Mercedes A35 Saloon	5	DNF	1:45.699	7
R	7	M		Ryan BENSLEY	Speedworks Corolla Racing	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	2	DNF	2:01.595	19
R	15	M		Lewis SELBY	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus Titanium	2	DNF	1:28.317	18
R	50	I		Árón TAYLOR-SMITH	Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	1	DNF	N/A	9