BTCC Croft – Sutton turns around fortunes for win to maintain title fight

Ash Sutton put his race one woes in the rear view mirror with a confident win in race three at Croft. The championship protagonist secured the win with rival Tom Ingram following him home in second and Senna Proctor completed the podium despite starting 18th.

In typical race three fashion, chaos ensued in the opening laps. Ingram made a good start, taking an outside line into turn one. Moffat defended, Ingram went wide and into a spin coming out of turn two. He powerslides and catches it with style.

Sutton surged through from fifth, passing Ingram for third and Rainford for second.

The Safety Car was deployed on lap three when, coming into the Complex, Dan Cammish was pushed wide onto the grass. The Yorkshire was a passenger as he skittled into the pack, taking out Chris Smiley and Daryl DeLeon. Senna Proctor the benefactor from the incident, going from 14th to sixth.

After a four lap break, the Safety Car pulled in and the race resumed. Ingram managed to get a run on Sutton on the back straight and took second. However at the final hairpin more chaos ensued. Sutton benefited, sneaking down the inside and taking the lead.

There was more strife at the hairpin on lap nine when Charles Rainford was spun around, sliding down the order.

Proctor, up from 18th on the grid, was the faster Hyundai, and defied all odds by passing team mate Ingram. A brave move with Sutton running away at the front. Ingram had been struggling to pass Aiden Moffat in second place, but Proctor had a go, and after some contact, Proctor was up into second with Ingram following behind.

On lap 13, Ingram made it back past Proctor, who didn’t put up a fight to get his teammate through.

Sutton strolled to the win, his sixth at Croft, and the fifth of the season, after a horrendous race one, he turned around his weekend to consolidate his place in the title fight.

Ingram finished second, and suffered minimal damage to his championship lead. Proctor finished third, his second podium of the day despite intense pressure from Gordon Shedden who finished fourth.

Adam Morgan was fifth with Moffat sixth. Sam Osborne drove brilliantly for seventh place with Tom Chilton, Aron Taylor-Smith and Mikey Doble rounding off the top ten.

Dexter Patterson was 11th with Max Buxton, making his series debut, finished 12th. Rainford, Nick Halstead, and Dan Rowbottom were the last of the runners, all picking up points finishes.

Ingram still leads the championship, his lead now eight points from Sutton, who in turn is 70 points clear of Dan Rowbottom in third.

Related posts:

BTCC Snetterton – Doble takes memorable first BTCC win BTCC Thruxton – Sutton storms to third win of season BTCC Thruxton – Rowbottom wins frantic final Thruxton thriller BTCC Croft – Ingram takes title lead with win after Sutton suffering puncture