Ash Sutton wins Brands Hatch BTCC finale in drag race to finish line
Outgoing champion Ash Sutton won the final British Touring Car Championship race of the season by 0.032s after a dramatic dash to the flag in the reversed grid race
The Team BMR Subaru Levorg racer worked his way into second place after eight laps of the event, and set about slashing the 0.8s advantage that had been built up by the Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall Astra of Josh Cook, who started on pole position.
The two fought a mighty duel and it looked as if Cook had done enough, but Sutton inched around the outside of his rival as the two cars powered towards the finish line.
Sutton did just enough to take his sixth win of the season to cement fourth place in the standings.
"I was laughing and smiling inside the car - that was one of the best races I have had in the BTCC," said Sutton, who is good friends with his defeated foe. "And it had to be with that guy.
"I didn't make a great start but got my way back though and what a way to finish the season."
Cook said: "I don't think I could have pushed the throttle down any harder on the run to the line: I think I had both feet on it at one stage.
"What a great race and was great to race against Ash. My car was just a little bit too tail happy to hold on, but I am still smiling."
Rob Austin led the early stages of the event in his HMS Alfa Romeo Giulietta until Cook managed to unpick his defences into Paddock Hill Bend on lap five.
Sutton deposed Austin two laps later to set off on his charge. Austin, though, managed to hold on to third place, even though he had been under pressure from the Motorbase Performance Ford Focus of Tom Chilton.
Championship runner-up Tom Ingram fended off Sam Tordoff's Motorbase Ford to the flag to claim fifth place, with Senna Proctor and Chris Smiley rounding out the top eight.
New champion Colin Turkington came home in 23rd spot in his WSR BMW 125i M Sport.
Race three result
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Laps | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ash Sutton | Team BMR | Subaru | 15 | 23m18.405s |
2 | Josh Cook | Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall | 15 | 0.032s |
3 | Rob Austin | HMS Racing | Alfa Romeo | 15 | 0.738s |
4 | Tom Chilton | Motorbase | Ford | 15 | 1.100s |
5 | Tom Ingram | Speedworks | Toyota | 15 | 1.662s |
6 | Sam Tordoff | Motorbase | Ford | 15 | 1.839s |
7 | Senna Proctor | Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall | 15 | 2.286s |
8 | Chris Smiley | BTC Norlin | Honda | 15 | 2.550s |
9 | Andrew Jordan | WSR | BMW | 15 | 3.065s |
10 | Daniel Lloyd | BTC Norlin | Honda | 15 | 3.689s |
11 | Adam Morgan | Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes | 15 | 8.300s |
12 | Ollie Jackson | AmD Tuning | Audi | 15 | 11.912s |
13 | Ricky Collard | WSR | BMW | 15 | 12.054s |
14 | James Cole | Motorbase | Ford | 15 | 12.484s |
15 | Mike Bushell | Team Hard | Volkswagen | 15 | 15.255s |
16 | Brett Smith | Eurotech Racing | Honda | 15 | 15.720s |
17 | Dan Cammish | Team Dynamics | Honda | 15 | 16.877s |
18 | Jack Goff | Eurotech Racing | Honda | 15 | 17.208s |
19 | Bobby Thompson | Team Hard | Volkswagen | 15 | 17.509s |
20 | Tom Oliphant | Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes | 15 | 18.112s |
21 | Matt Neal | Team Dynamics | Honda | 15 | 18.457s |
22 | Matt Simpson | Simpson Racing | Honda | 15 | 19.210s |
23 | Colin Turkington | WSR | BMW | 15 | 19.417s |
24 | Rory Butcher | AmD Tuning | MG | 15 | 19.616s |
25 | Jason Plato | Team BMR | Subaru | 15 | 19.845s |
26 | Sam Smelt | AmD Tuning | Audi | 15 | 20.112s |
27 | Aiden Moffat | Laser Tools Racing | Mercedes | 15 | 1m22.927s |
- | Ethan Hammerton | Team Hard | Volkswagen | 4 | Retirement |
- | Stephen Jelley | Team Parker Racing | BMW | 3 | Retirement |
- | Josh Caygill | AmD Tuning | MG | 3 | Retirement |
- | Ollie Pidgley | Team Hard | Volkswagen | 0 | Not started |
Final drivers' standings
Pos | Driver | Points |
---|---|---|
1 | Colin Turkington | 304 |
2 | Tom Ingram | 292 |
3 | Tom Chilton | 266 |
4 | Ash Sutton | 256 |
5 | Andrew Jordan | 247 |
6 | Josh Cook | 246 |
7 | Adam Morgan | 232 |
8 | Jack Goff | 228 |
9 | Matt Neal | 223 |
10 | Dan Cammish | 218 |
11 | Sam Tordoff | 202 |
12 | Senna Proctor | 170 |
13 | Chris Smiley | 152 |
14 | Rob Austin | 126 |
15 | Matt Simpson | 120 |
16 | Aiden Moffat | 117 |
17 | Rory Butcher | 99 |
18 | Daniel Lloyd | 87 |
19 | Rob Collard | 86 |
20 | Brett Smith | 70 |
21 | James Cole | 67 |
22 | Tom Oliphant | 63 |
23 | Ollie Jackson | 59 |
24 | Mike Bushell | 59 |
25 | Ricky Collard | 46 |
26 | Jake Hill | 29 |
27 | Jason Plato | 26 |
28 | Bobby Thompson | 23 |
29 | Tom Boardman | 14 |
30 | Ant Whorton-Eales | 6 |
31 | James Nash | 6 |
32 | Stephen Jelley | 4 |
33 | Glynn Geddie | 1 |
34 | Michael Caine | 0 |
35 | Daniel Welch | 0 |
36 | Sam Smelt | 0 |
37 | Josh Price | 0 |
38 | Ethan Hammerton | 0 |
39 | Carl Boardley | 0 |
40 | Ollie Pidgley | 0 |
41 | Josh Caygill | 0 |
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