Ash Sutton wins race two at Donington Park

Credit: BTCC

The headline heading into the race was the disqualification of race one winner, Tom Ingram. The Team VERTU driver was excluded from the race due to an overboosting issue, he therefore started race two from the back of the grid. Plato Racing’s Adam Morgan was also issued a time penalty for a similar issue, dropping to tenth. Power Maxed Racing’s Mikey Doble therefore inherited the win, and therefore staredt race two from pole, ahead of NAPA UK’s Ash Sutton and WSR’s Charles Rainford.

Again, pre race, the talk was on who would opt to use the soft tyre. In the end, Aiden Moffat, Gordon Shedden, Daryl DeLeon and Ricky Collard choose to start on the quicker tyre.

Before the race start, Ingram came into pit lane with a problem. Rainford got the best start, taking the lead, but Sutton got past on the exit of turn one ahead of the BMW and Doble. Tom Chilton went through the grass at the bottom of the hill, but the safety car came out as his Team VERTU teammate, Nicolas Hamilton, was stuck in the gravel at turn one. Meanwhile, Ingram remained in the pits as Max Buxton’s Toyota also came into the pit lane.

The problem for Ingram was linked to his alternator, as Buxton rejoined the race. However, the problems continued as Dan Rowbottom entered the pits in his Mercedes, returning to the garage.

The race restarted on lap five, with Sutton leading ahead of Rainford, Doble, Dan Cammish and Shedden. The front runners remained in position through the opening corners after the resumption. Three laps were added due to the safety car period.

Credit: BTCC

Cammish made short work of Doble, moving up to third in his NAPA Ford. Just behind, was the battle of the Scotsman’s between Moffat and Shedden.

Shedden then got past Doble, despite making contact into the Old Hairpin, with Moffat going through just after. Doble continued to drop, with Morgan pulling off a good overtake as the Audi continued to fall through the pack. Sutton had managed to build a gap of over a second and half as the race approached half distance.

Josh Cook began to pick up positions after retiring from race one. PMR’s performance continued as Dexter Patterson moved his way through the latter half of the top ten. Buxton later returned to the pits after earlier problems.

Collard put his soft tyres to work as he moved into the top ten, overtaking the struggling Audi of Doble. Meanwhile, NAPA teammates, Lewis Selby and Sam Osborne, battled for the final points positions along with Tom Chilton. DeLeon made steady progress up to sixth on his soft tyres.

Cammish looked to make it a NAPA 1-2 as he pressured Rainford for second, allowing Sutton to pull away in the lead. The NAPA driver would eventually get up to second on lap 16. Rainford was determined not give up, but was demoted to third. Sutton had a gap of over three seconds, but was shown the warning flag for track limits, as was Cammish.

Shedden would eventually move to third as the race headed into the final laps, with Moffat following through for fourth. Rainford would fall all the way down to sixth in one lap as his teammate, DeLeon, would get past for fifth place.

Credit: BTCC

Sutton brought home a NAPA 1-2 ahead of Cammish. A cracking drive from Shedden as he rounded off the podium in his Toyota. Moffat showed the pace of the PMR Audi’s as he finished fourth, with DeLeon completing the top five. Rainford, Patterson, Collard, Morgan and Cook made up the rest of the top ten.

Árón Taylor-Smith, Restart Racing’s Chris Smiley, Chilton, Doble and Selby completed the points. Then came Osborne and James Dorlin, with Buxton, Rowbottom, Hamilton and Ingram not finishing.

It has turned into a great weekend for Ash Sutton, whilst in comparison its turned into a weekend to forget for Tom Ingram and Team VERTU. Dan Cammish picks up a podium to start his championship campaign. Plenty of positives for Toyota and the PMR Audi’s, as WSR continue to pick solid points finishes.

The reverse grid race three is due to get underway at 17:30 local time. It’s not one you want to miss, with the normal race three action and the added fast charging Ingram at the back once more. Sutton drew eight for the reverse grid, meaning Ricky Collard will start on pole ahead of Patterson, Rainford and Deleon for the final race of the day.