Ash Sutton wins race three as the BTCC gets underway for 2026
- Michael Williams
- 16 minutes ago
- 4 min read
The grid lined up for the usual race three shenanigans with Team VERTU’s Ricky Collard on pole position ahead of Power Maxed Racing’s Dexter Patterson, the pair of WSR BMW’s of Charles Rainford and Daryl DeLeon, with Aiden Moffat completing the top five on the grid. Tom Ingram would once again start at the back after a disastrous opening weekend so far.
Patterson was the lead driver on the soft tyres, with a host of other drivers also on the quicker tyre, including NAPA’s Dan Cammish and Ash Sutton, as well as Ingram at the rear of the grid. Nicolas Hamilton would start the race from the pit lane.
Collard got a solid start, keeping the lead into turn one as Patterson fell to fourth with DeLeon up third behind Rainford. Lewis Selby had a brief moment off track, but managed to rejoin.
Patterson fell behind Sutton at the end of lap one as the battles intensified throughout the pack. It didn’t take long for Rainford to take the lead, passing Collard on lap two at the Old Hairpin. Ingram had managed to get up into the points by the end of lap two. Collard barged his way back past Rainford for the lead as Sutton got involved in the lead battle after moving up into the podium positions.
Sutton held onto a big slide out of the final corner after making contact with Patterson’s Audi as the Scotsman looked to regain some of the positions he lost since the opening lap. A sizeable crash occurred on lap four, mainly caused after contact between Gordon Shedden and DeLeon, with Tom Chilton also involved, who was forced to pit.
Collard pulled away out front as an extensive battle emerged behind between second all the way to the latter half of the top ten. All of this allowed Ingram to climb up to eighth, he then made a move through the Craner Curves to overtake Adam Morgan for seventh.
Ingram continued his charge aboard his Team VERTU Hyundai as he passed Rainford to move into the top six as the race approached half distance. Bad luck continued for Tom Chilton as he was forced to pit with sizeable damage on the front left of his car.
Sutton rebuilt an attack on the leader, with the NAPA driver taking the lead as Collard ran wide at turn one. Meanwhile, Ingram passed Patterson to move up to fifth, making the most of his soft tyres. Battles continued throughout the grid, with the usual mix up in race three. Including Restart Racing’s Chris Smiley battling with the two Toyota’s of Shedden and Árón Taylor-Smith. Ingram then passed Moffat for fourth on lap 12, despite some heavy defence from the Scotsman.
Sutton pulled away out front as his teammate, Dan Cammish, began to put Collard under pressure. He would eventually get past with a confident move into the Old Hairpin. However, Collard fought back which gave Ingram a chance to get into the fight for second. This allowed Sutton to build a gap over of over three seconds.
Ingram would eventually get past Cammish as the race headed into the final laps, and it wouldnt take long for him to past Collard for second. However, Ingram was given a warning for track limits. Sam Osborne then began to put Adam Morgan under pressure for eighth, along with Chris Smiley.
Heading into the penultimate lap, Cammish passed Collard for third across the line as Rainford past Patterson for sixth. A multi-car moment occurred coming into the Old Hairpin, including James Dorlin going onto the grass. Sutton led the race onto the final lap, as Cammish was given a ten second time penalty for track limits.
It became two race wins this weekend for Sutton, with a phenomenal drive for Ingram to take second as Collard took third after the penalty for Cammish. Moffat completed a spectacular weekend for PMR and their Audi’s in fourth as Rainford finished in fifth place. Moffat also took home the Independents win in race three.
Then came Patterson, Smiley, Morgan, Osborne and Cammish rounded out the top ten after taking third on the road. The points were completed by Rowbottom, Shedden, Taylor-Smith, DeLeon and Dorlin. A difficult weekend for Max Buxton after finishing race three in 16th, ahead of Selby, Hamilton, Mikey Doble, Josh Cook and Chilton.
A perfect start for Ash Sutton, taking two race wins and a sizeable 18 point lead in the championship over Charles Rainford. PMR showed the performance potential of their new Audi’s with the race one win and Aiden Moffat ending the weekend third in the championship. Tom Ingram ensured he didnt leave emptied handed, but there’s work to do heading into Brands Hatch. Plato Racing will undoubtedly be very happy with their debut, but they also have work to do to remain fighting at the front for the rest of the season.
The opening weekend didn’t disappoint with some excellent on track action, both the overall and Independents championship battles look like they could go all the way. The action returns in a few weeks at Brands Hatch Indy.
