Mikey Doble took his first BTCC race win in round nine at Snetterton, holding off a faster Ash Sutton for six laps to bring home the win.
The Power Maxed Racing team almost never made the grid this season, so for Doble to take a win, is testament to the work done by the team. He becomes the eighth race winner this season from nine rounds.
It was a lights to flag win for Doble, who started from pole on the soft tyres, while the others around him were on the slower hard tyre.
There was pre-race drama as Chris Smiley was due to line up second on the grid, but a crank shaft change meant he was unable to take his place on the grid. He finally made his way onto the circuit, albeit three laps down.
Doble led off the line, the gap vacated by Smiley meant the Vauxhall man had the advantage. Ash Sutton made an incredible start, jumping from tenth to fourth. The Safety Car was called when Stephen Jelley was pushed off into the wall. His Honda Civic going no further. Daryl DeLeon nudged Jelley into a spin and into the path of Ingram, who was an innocent party as he hit Jelley off.
On the restart, Dan Lloyd, on the hards, was doing his best to hold off Josh Cook and Ash Sutton, but the pair made it past. Sutton made his way past Cook and went on the hunt for Doble, 2.2 seconds up the road.
Within four laps the gap was eliminated, with Sutton on the back of Doble. The Vauxhall man lost a win last season when he defended against Jake Hill at Oulton Park. Hill made his way past on the final lap, so Doble was keen for history not to repeat itself.
He held off the Ford, and was given a reprieve from defending when Sutton locked up. He went wide and lost half a second. This gave Doble the space he needed to bring the car home and take his first win of his BTCC career. Sutton settled for second, extending his championship lead over Tom Ingram to 15 in the process. Cook finished third.
Ingram battled from the back of the grid to finish fourth, making up 19 places in an incredible drive. NAPA duo Sam Osborne and Dan Cammish took fifth and sixth. WSR pair Charles Rainford and Jake Hill were next up, with Ronan Pearson and Aiden Moffat rounding off the top ten.
Aron Taylor-Smith, Gordon Shedden, Dexter Patterson, Max Hall and Adam Morgan rounded off the points. Dan Lloyd finished 16th in the end, his rearguard defending only lasting so long before dropping down the order.
Sutton takes a 15 point lead into the next set of rounds at Thruxton, with Ingram close on his tail and Hill in third.
|
Pos |
Name |
Team |
Car |
|
1 (1) |
Mikey DOBLE |
Power Maxed Racing |
Vauxhall Astra |
|
2 (10) |
Ash SUTTON |
NAPA Racing |
Ford Focus |
|
3 (7) |
Josh COOK |
ONE Motorsport |
Honda Civic Type-R |
|
4 (24) |
Tom INGRAM |
Team Vertu |
Hyundai i30N |
|
5 (8) |
Sam OSBORNE |
NAPA Racing |
Ford Focus |
|
6 (19) |
Dan CAMMISH |
NAPA Racing |
Ford Focus |
|
7 (9) |
Charles RAINFORD |
LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR |
BMW 330e |
|
8 (11) |
Jake HILL |
Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport |
BMW 330e |
|
9 (13) |
Ronan PEARSON |
Toyota Gazoo Racing |
Toyota Corolla |
|
10 (16) |
Aiden MOFFAT |
Team WSR |
BMW 330e |
|
11 (12) |
Aron TAYLOR-SMITH |
Toyota Gazoo Racing |
Toyota Corolla |
|
12 (25) |
Gordon SHEDDEN |
Toyota Gazoo Racing |
Toyota Corolla |
|
13 (20) |
Dexter PATTERSON |
RoKIT Racing with Un-Limited Motorsport |
Cupra Leon |
|
14 (21) |
Max HALL |
RoKIT Racing with Un-Limited Motorsport |
Cupra Leon |
|
15 (5) |
Adam MORGAN |
Team Vertu |
Hyundai i30N |
|
16 (3) |
Dan LLOYD |
Restart Racing |
Hyundai i30N |
|
17 (6) |
Dan ROWBOTTOM |
NAPA Racing |
Ford Focus |
|
18 (4) |
Tom CHILTON |
Team Vertu |
Hyundai i30N |
|
19 (15) |
Daryl DELEON |
Team WSR |
BMW 330e |
|
20 (18) |
Ryan BENSLEY |
Team Vertu |
Hyundai i30N |
|
21 (23) |
Nick HALSTEAD |
Power Maxed Racing |
Vauxhall Astra |
|
22 (22) |
Nicholas HAMILTON |
Powder Monkey |
Cupra Leon |
|
23 (14) |
James DORLIN |
Toyota Gazoo Racing |
Toyota Corolla |
|
24 (2) |
Chris SMILEY |
Restart Racing |
Hyundai i30N |
|
DNF (17) |
Stephen JELLEY |
ONE Motorsport |
Honda Civic Type-R |
