Dan Rowbottom took his second win of the season and thrust himself into championship contention with a victory in round 12 at Thruxton.
The NAPA Racing man took the lead on lap one, and didn’t lose it in what was a frantic final race of the day.
It was Jake Hill who took the lead off the start, jumping front row starters James Dorlin and Senna Proctor into first place. Rowbottom got past the pair too and chased down Hill. By the end of lap one Rowbottom’s Focus was in the lead with Hill second.
Dan Cammish had made it into third and was being the perfect wingman for his teammate in front, by harassing Hill and allowing Rowbottom to pull away.
Not to be outperformed, fellow NAPA driver Ash Sutton was hot on the heels of title rival Tom Ingram in fourth. The two championship protagonists made contact coming out of the Complex but nothing too serious. Ingram going wide and losing ground.
The safety car was deployed on lap eight when Adam Morgan crashed out going into turn one. The Vertu Hyundai driver was looking to get a more sweeping line into the right hand corner, but pitched a wheel on the grass and it sent him spinning into the wall and out.
On the restart Ronan Pearson was out of the race, his bonnet flying up and causing damage. He became the second Toyota to retire with Dorlin already out earlier in the race.
The main flashpoint of the race came on lap 12 when Sutton tried a move on the outside Hill. But the BMW man ran wide, taking Sutton with him, and pitching him into a spin. The pair haemorrhaging places with Senna Proctor the main beneficiary.
Proctor’s fine weekend ensured he finished fourth, heralding three top ten finishes on his return to the sport, his first BTCC race since 2021.
Rowbottom secured the win, becoming only the second driver to win multiple races this season. Ingram finished second with Cammish third.
Proctor came home fourth with Sutton recovering for fifth, three NAPA cars in the top five. Chris Smiley and Aron Taylor-Smith were next with Josh Cook coming from the back of the grid to finish eighth. Tom Chilton was ninth and Dan Lloyd tenth. He’d finished seventh on the road but was given a five second penalty for a false start.
Gordon Shedden was 11th with Sam Osborne, Aiden Moffat, Mikey Doble and Daryl DeLeon rounding off the points finishes.
Sutton leads the championship by nine points from Ingram going into the next set of races at Oulton Park. Rowbottom’s win moves him into third in the standings with it all still to play for.
|
Pos |
Name |
Team |
Car |
|
1 (5) |
Dan ROWBOTTOM |
NAPA Racing |
Ford Focus |
|
2 (6) |
Tom INGRAM |
Team Vertu |
Hyundai i30N |
|
3 (4) |
Dan CAMMISH |
NAPA Racing |
Ford Focus |
|
4 (2) |
Senna PROCTOR |
Team Vertu |
Hyundai i30N |
|
5 (7) |
Ash SUTTON |
NAPA Racing |
Ford Focus |
|
6 (8) |
Chris SMILEY |
Restart Racing |
Hyundai i30N |
|
7 (17) |
Aron TAYLOR-SMITH |
Toyota Gazoo Racing |
Toyota Corolla |
|
8 (23) |
Josh COOK |
ONE Motorsport |
Honda Civic Type-R |
|
9 (22) |
Tom CHILTON |
Team Vertu |
Hyundai i30N |
|
10 (10)* |
Dan LLOYD |
Restart Racing |
Hyundai i30N |
|
11 (19) |
Gordon SHEDDEN |
Toyota Gazoo Racing |
Toyota Corolla |
|
12 (20) |
Sam OSBORNE |
NAPA Racing |
Ford Focus |
|
13 (13) |
Aiden MOFFAT |
Team WSR |
BMW 330e |
|
14 (21) |
Mikey DOBLE |
Power Maxed Racing |
Vauxhall Astra |
|
15 (9) |
Daryl DELEON |
Team WSR |
BMW 330e |
|
16 (16) |
Stephen JELLEY |
ONE Motorsport |
Honda Civic Type-R |
|
17 (15) |
Dexter PATTERSON |
RoKIT Racing with Un-Limited Motorsport |
Cupra Leon |
|
18 (18) |
Nicholas HAMILTON |
Powder Monkey |
Cupra Leon |
|
19 (3) |
Jake HILL |
Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport |
BMW 330e |
|
20 (11) |
Charles RAINFORD |
LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR |
BMW 330e |
|
DNF (14) |
Ronan PEARSON |
Toyota Gazoo Racing |
Toyota Corolla |
|
DNF (12) |
Adam MORGAN |
Team Vertu |
Hyundai i30N |
|
DNF (1) |
James DORLIN |
Toyota Gazoo Racing |
Toyota Corolla |
|
DNS (24) |
Max HALL |
RoKIT Racing with Un-Limited Motorsport |
Cupra Leon |
