Perfect weekend for Charles Rainford continues with win in Race 1

Charles Rainford continued his perfect weekend at a scorching Snetterton by taking victory in Round 7 of the British Touring Car Championship.

The raucous sound of touring cars blessed a sunny Snetterton as WSR’s Charles Rainford got away excellently, with no opposition throughout the first corners of the race.

At the same time, Josh Cook’s Speedworks Corolla found itself under challenge from Tom Ingram, with the Team VERTU Hyundai getting by at the tricky infield section.

In typical Ash Sutton fashion, he had already eclipsed eight other drivers in his NAPA Racing Ford Focus before the end of the first tour, climbing to 13ᵗʰ.

Much like yesterday’s Race to Pole, the running in Norfolk had calmed by the end of the second lap, with the BMW of Rainford building a strong gap at the front of the pack. Ingram remained in second, while Cook plugged away well in third – despite pre-weekend expectations downing the Corolla.

Adam Morgan had a difficult start to his Sunday in the Plato Racing Mercedes, falling five places to 12ᵗʰ as Sutton bypassed him on the back straight. Lewis Selby’s NAPA Ford and Dexter Patterson’s Steel Seal Audi battled intensely on lap four, with Patterson having fallen  down the order.

In the other purple Plato motor, Dan Rowbottom was running steady in sixth, close behind a pack involving Daryl De Leon’s BMW, Dan Cammish’s Ford, and Cook.

Attempting to chase down the supreme BMW of Rainford, Ingram was piloting his Hyundai to fastest lap efforts. Yet, it was Rainford with the most consistent form and holding his gap of two seconds out front.

Ricky Collard was another standout in his VERTU Hyundai, climbing four places from the start of the race to eighth by the end of lap five.

De Leon finally got past Cammish with five to go, with WSR clearly being the team to beat in the scorching heat.

Patterson continued to fall down the order, with the VERTU Hyundai of Nic Hamilton besting him. Towards the back, little separated a pack that included surprises – like high-flying Mikey Doble and NAPA’s Lewis Selby. Even further back was Árón Taylor-Smith, with the Laser Tools Corolla unable to continue its Brands Hatch form, and Doble’s teammate Aiden Moffat.

With just three to go, Rainford looked insurmountable at the top of the order. His gap now stood at over three seconds, while Ingram had a four second gap to newly-third De Leon, with Cook unable to hold off the faster BMW for any longer.

In no surprise, it was Rainford who kept his cool and took the chequered flag first. Ingram followed in second to continue his title recovery, with De Leon rounding out the podium.

Cook took fourth, closely followed by Cammish, Rowbottom, and the steady drive of VERTU’s Tom Chilton. Collard, James Dorlin, and Sam Osborne’s Ford Focus rounded out the fastest ten.

Sutton’s recovery drive earned him 11ᵗʰ, followed some way behind by Morgan, Selby, Shedden and Doble to round out the points scorers.

Race result

POS	NO	CL	NAT	DRIVER	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	BEST	GD
1	99	I		Charles RAINFORD	WSR	BMW 330i M Sport NGTC	12	23:28.657	1:56.170	1
2	80	M		Tom INGRAM	Team VERTU	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	12	3.917	1:56.128	3
3	2	I		Daryl DeLEON	WSR	BMW 330i M Sport NGTC	12	8.379	1:56.414	6
4	66	M		Josh COOK	Speedworks Corolla Racing	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	12	9.872	1:56.241	2
5	27	M		Dan CAMMISH	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus Titanium	12	10.226	1:56.510	4
6	32	M		Daniel ROWBOTTOM	Plato Racing	Mercedes A35 Saloon	12	11.593	1:56.713	5
7	3	M		Tom CHILTON	Team VERTU	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	12	12.681	1:56.894	8
8	11	M		Ricky COLLARD	Team VERTU	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	12	14.839	1:56.859	12
9	132	I		James DORLIN	Restart Racing	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	12	16.274	1:56.937	9
10	77	M		Sam OSBORNE	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus Titanium	12	19.497	1:57.315	10
11	116	M		Ashley SUTTON	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus Titanium	12	20.794	1:57.519	21
12	33	M		Adam MORGAN	Plato Racing	Mercedes A35 Saloon	12	27.531	1:58.170	7
13	15	M		Lewis SELBY	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus Titanium	12	28.756	1:58.033	16
14	52	I		Gordon SHEDDEN	Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	12	36.250	1:58.683	13
15	88	I		Mikey DOBLE	LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing	Audi A3 Saloon	12	36.764	1.58.560	14
16	22	I		Chris SMILEY	Restart Racing	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	12	36.963	1:58.579	17
17	17	I		Dexter PATTERSON	Power Maxed Racing	Audi A3 Saloon	12	37.772	1:58.771	11
18	28	M		Nicolas HAMILTON	Team VERTU	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	12	37.805	1:58.438	15
19	16	I		Aiden MOFFAT	LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing	Audi A3 Saloon	12	42.124	1:58.803	20
20	50	I		Árón TAYLOR-SMITH	Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	12	42.341	1:58.814	19
21	19	M		Max BUXTON	Speedworks Corolla Racing	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	12	43.640	1:59.008	18