Sensational Ash Sutton wins from tenth in race two at Snetterton

A sensational Ash Sutton drive saw the NAPA Racing UK driver take victory in race two of the British Touring Car Championship at Snetterton, increasing his gap in the British Touring Car Championship drivers’ standings to 48 points.

While the top three were required to run the medium tyre ahead of race three, the rest of the grid went for the prime softs – including the likes of Power Maxed Racing’s Mikey Doble who ridded himself of the primes in race one.

At the start, Daryl De Leon’s WSR BMW got away exceptionally and blew past Tom Ingram’s Team VERTU Hyundai for second, though Ingram quickly got his position back a few corners later. Much like the first race, Charles Rainford got away perfectly in his BMW and led into the first sequence of corners.

Dan Cammish started well in his NAPA Racing Ford Focus to climb to fourth, with the Plato Racing Mercedes of Dan Rowbottom and Ricky Collard’s Hyundai joining him in improving on their starting positions.

Of course, Sutton also had a fantastic start. His NAPA Ford had already navigated up into seventh place by the conclusion of the second lap. Collard also improved one further at the start of the third tour, pipping Rowbottom through the first sector.

After a difficult race one for the Power Maxed Audi of Dexter Patterson, his day got worse with a ten-second penalty for a false start.

Cammish charged hard in his Ford Focus and initially set the fastest lap, closing to the back of De Leon with his tyre advantage.

James Dorlin peeled into the pits at the end of the third lap, with his Restart Racing Hyundai needing attention and the team propping his bonnet open. Fortunately, he returned to racing on the lead lap though plenty behind.

Sutton continued his sensational start by navigating his way past Rowbottom and setting a new fastest lap on his fourth rounding of the circuit. Despite his Saturday difficulties and a lack of boost, the NAPA man is showing all the signs of being capable of taking a record-breaking title victory at the end of 2026.

The hard-charging Ford then added Collard and De Leon to his tally of overtakes, moving to fourth by the sixth lap, before getting past Cammish at the end of the back straight. At the same time, a boost-less Rainford was eclipsed by Ingram for the race lead.

As six laps remained, Ingram held a slender one second lead over Sutton and the chasing pack. It continued to fall, with Sutton over a second-a-lap quicker than the leader.

And it was this pressure that proved too much for Ingram. A huge lock-up at the Montreal hairpin saw Sutton sail past at turn two of the eighth lap, while Ingram fell down to fifth.

Ingram’s mistake saw himself bunched into a pack with Rainford and De Leon, with both WSR BMW cars struggling. These struggles also benefitted VERTU’s Tom Chilton, whose experienced drive had brought him to fourth.

Another VERTU beneficiary was Collard, who got past Cammish for second on an action-packed eighth lap. Cammish then continued to fall as Chilton got by on the tenth tour. Despite Collard and Chilton providing celebration for Team VERTU, Ingram’s outing went from bad to worse when he was forced to retire on his tenth lap, pulling off the circuit exiting the Esses with a lack of power.

With two to go, the sensational WSR weekend continued to fade as both drivers found themselves scrapping in the lower reaches of the fastest ten. Chris Smiley then got past De Leon easily in his Restart Hyundai.

At the flag, an incredible drive from Sutton saw him take victory, followed at some distance by Collard and Chilton. Cammish came home fourth, with a quiet-yet-strong Adam Morgan drive behind, as Rowbottom completed a solid outing for Plato.

Gordon Shedden was another strong gainer in his Laser Tools Corolla, jumping six places to seventh to claim the Independent victory. Smiley found himself in the middle of a WSR sandwich between eighth and tenth, while Lewis Selby came home 11ᵗʰ in his NAPA Ford.

Cook had a disappointing outing in his Corolla to follow behind, while Doble couldn’t improve on his Race 1 with 13ᵗʰ. Árón Taylor-Smith followed in his Laser Tools Corolla, while Aiden Moffat rounded out the points scorers in his Audi.

Race three gets underway at 17:20 BST.

Race result

POS	NO	CL	NAT	DRIVER	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	BEST	GD
1	116	M		Ashley SUTTON	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus Titanium	12	23:42.495	1:56.481	10
2	11	M		Ricky COLLARD	Team VERTU	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	12	6.009	1:56.971	8
3	3	M		Tom CHILTON	Team VERTU	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	12	7.295	1:56.998	7
4	27	M		Dan CAMMISH	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus Titanium	12	11.954	1:56.839	5
5	33	M		Adam MORGAN	Plato Racing	Mercedes A35 Saloon	12	14.906	1:57.369	11
6	32	M		Daniel ROWBOTTOM	Plato Racing	Mercedes A35 Saloon	12	15.942	1:57.713	6
7	52	I		Gordon SHEDDEN	Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	12	16.129	1:57.714	13
8	99	I		Charles RAINFORD	WSR	BMW 330i M Sport NGTC	12	17.496	1:57.822	1
9	22	I		Chris SMILEY	Restart Racing	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	12	17.613	1:58.047	15
10	2	I		Daryl DeLEON	WSR	BMW 330i M Sport NGTC	12	19.047	1:57.759	3
11	15	M		Lewis SELBY	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus Titanium	12	21.129	1:57.815	12
12	66	M		Josh COOK	Speedworks Corolla Racing	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	12	21.996	1:58.698	4
13	88	I		Mikey DOBLE	LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing	Audi A3 Saloon	12	22.785	1:57.690	14
14	50	I		Árón TAYLOR-SMITH	Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	12	24.832	1:58.310	19
15	16	I		Aiden MOFFAT	LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing	Audi A3 Saloon	12	25.702	1:58.452	18
16	28	M		Nicolas HAMILTON	Team VERTU	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	12	26.755	1:58.751	17
17	77	M		Sam OSBORNE	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus Titanium	12	27.305	1:58.704	21
18	19	M		Max BUXTON	Speedworks Corolla Racing	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	12	30.990	1:59.009	20
19	17	I		Dexter PATTERSON	Power Maxed Racing	Audi A3 Saloon	12	34.503	1:58.463	16
20	132	I		James DORLIN	Restart Racing	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	12	1:52.198	1:57.853	9
R	80	M		Tom INGRAM	Team VERTU	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	9	DNF	1:57.626	2