Sutton seals the BTCC Championship in style with a Race 2 win at Silverstone
The British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) is as unpredictable as it gets, but in 2026 one thing has been easy to predict: Ash Sutton dominance. The Napa Racing driver made history in Race 2 at Silverstone, winning the race and his fifth BTCC Championship.
You'd be excused for not predicting the driver starting 12th would be leading by lap nine if you had never watched BTCC. Aiden Moffat kept the lead on lap one from pole, fighting off a fast starting Tom Chilton from third. It was immediately clear that Moffat and Chilton's race for first was time bound as Sutton was already in eighth by the end of lap one.
A harsh metaphor to represent their seasons, the previous reigning Champion of the series, Tom Ingram, started one place behind Sutton but could only gain two places at the start and dropped back to 14th a few laps later.
Sutton took fifth place on lap three at Brooklands, as Josh Cook fought an enormous slide behind him - demonstrating the low grip the drivers are dealing with this weekend.
At the front Moffat built a 1.5 second gap to Chilton who turned into the front carriage of locomotive until Daryl De Leon managed to squeeze past. Chilton did his best for his Team Virtu teammate's dwindling championship hopes by putting on a strong defence against Sutton, but it only lasted a lap as he went deep into Luffield.
Sutton was helped out by De Leon catching and scrapping Moffat, slowing them both down and bringing the ominous force of Ash Sutton onto their tail. Before becoming a Sutton victim, De Leon managed to take the lead from Moffat, who immediately lost second place.
On lap nine of 22, Sutton put a spectacular move on De Leon, throwing a dummy into Copse then launching it up the inside. From this point, no one could challenge Sutton, who won the race by 5.4 seconds and mathematically secured his fifth BTCC Championship, a feat no other driver has completed before.
Morgan managed to work his way up to second, ahead of Rainford in third and De Leon who was unable to keep the 'best of the rest' position he claimed earlier in the race. Dan Rowbottom finished fifth and Dan Cammish came across the line sixth, two places ahead of Ingram who is now third in the Championship standings, six points behind Cammish.
The Championship may be decided but the racing will continue in Race 3 at 17:20 BST.
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