Category: BTCC

Adam Morgan took his second win of the season in the final race of the weekend at Thruxton. Colin Turkington finished second with Senna Proctor third in a race which had three safety car periods.

It didn’t take long for the first safety car to be deployed. Gordon Shedden’s Honda made contact with Jade Edwards’ Honda, sending the pair into the wall and out of the race. The safety car came out to recover the cars.

On the restart on lap six, Ingram was hunting down Sutton, with both drivers fighting for the championship. On lap seven Ingram squeezed past Sutton at the final chicane. Jason Plato seized his opportunity and passed Sutton too.

The second safety car was brought out on lap ten as Sam Smelt and Carl Boardley made contact. Smelt’s car came to a halt on track while Boardley crawled back to the pits.

Just before the safety car was deployed, Ingram passed Stephen Jelley in a brave move around the outside at the high speed Noble corner.

The race was briefly restarted on lap 13 with Ollie Jackson retiring on lap 14 with a right suspension failure. The safety car was brought out for the third time to retrieve his car.

Lap 16 saw the restart, and a point of contention. Coming into the final chicane Morgan locked up heavily, and decided to cut the chicane instead of attempt to make the corner. He made a large gap on Turkington, which he later slowed down to rule out. However the argument could be made that it denied Turkington an overtaking opportunity.

On the final lap Ingram made another daring move on Rory Butcher and took fifth place.

Morgan took the win, with Turkington in second and Proctor in third. Hill, Ingram Butcher, Cook, Plato, Smiley and Sutton rounded off the top ten. 

Ash Sutton extended his championship lead with a win in race two at Thruxton. He reeled in race one winner Josh Cook, who finished second, with Tom Oliphant third for the WSR team.

Cook led from pole at the start, with Rory Butcher passing Jake Hill, who dropped from second to fourth off the line. Jade Edwards jumped the start, seeming to misread the lights and was given a five second penalty.

There was drama for the Dynamics Honda team as both Dan Rowbottom and Gordon Shedden were into the pits by the end of lap two with mechanical issues. Jack Mitchell joined them in the pits in his Team HARD Cupra Leon, with his team mate Aron Taylor-Smith not even making the start. He broke down on the formation lap.

On lap three Sutton passed Oliphant for second place, with Cook 2.2 seconds up the road in the lead.

The other battle was between Butcher and Tom Ingram, who were fighting over fifth place.

By lap seven Sutton was just a second behind Cook, who had the full 75kg ballast on his Honda Civic. On lap nine Sutton was on the rear bumper of Cook, and was looking for the right opportunity to pass, which he eventually took.

Sutton’s Infiniti made the best exit out of the final chicane and had a run on Cook. He cut down the inside and passed into turn one, taking the lead and cruising to the chequered flag.

Lap 13 saw a hairy moment between Butcher and Ingram, as they made slight contact at Noble, an incredibly high speed corner, thankfully Butcher regained the car and held on without losing a place. However on lap 15 Ingram passed Butcher with a nice switchback move at the Complex. Colin Turkington was in the mix too, but couldn’t pass either.

Sutton took the win and extended his championship lead, with Cook and Oliphant behind him.

Hill was fourth and Butcher inherited fifth as Ingram suffered a puncture on the final lap, sending him all the way down to 12th. Turkington was sixth. Senna Proctor took seventh with Adam Morgan eighth and the Power Maxed pair of Jason Plato and Dan Lloyd rounding off the top ten.

• – Jade Edwards received a 5 second penalty for a jump start.

Josh Cook cruised to his seventh win at Thruxton to keep his title challenge going in round 16 of the British Touring Car Championship.

He surged into the lead off the start line from third, passing Jake Hill and polesitter Dan Rowbottom and into the lead which he never surrendered.

Tom Oliphant also had a fine start from fifth and was third by the end of the first lap. Hill started well and passed Oliphant for second at the chicane.

A couple of cars were seen going off at the high-speed Church corner, with Paul Rivett spinning on lap two. Nicholas Hamilton later did the same, both losing the back end and spinning.

There was a battle developing behind the top three with seven cars all fighting for a better position. Ash Sutton put the moves on Adam Morgan into Church to take sixth and soon made light work of Rowbottom to chase down Rory Butcher in fourth.

The Scot did incredibly well in his Toyota to fend off the championship leader, despite the fact Sutton had 75kg of success ballast on his Infiniti.

On the penultimate lap Jason Plato was chasing down Ingram for tenth place on the road. Having been on his rear bumper for the majority of the race, the veteran finally made his move into the final chicane.

Plato squeezed past and Colin Turkington swooped in to capitalise on Ingram’s lost momentum. Ingram however recovered and passed Turkington into the complex.

Cook cruised to the win, his seventh at Thruxton and the 11th of his career. Hill and Oliphant rounded off the podium. Butcher impressively held off Sutton for fourth with Rowbottom going from pole on the grid to sixth. Morgan was seventh with Senna Proctor eighth. Plato and Ingram came home ninth and tenth.

Dan Lloyd was eighth on the road at the chequered flag but he was given a five second penalty for being out of position at the start.

• – Dan Lloyd given a 5 second penalty for improper grid position.

Tom Ingram maintained his title aspirations as he took the final race win at Knockhill.

The 19th BTCC win of his career, the Hyundai driver fought hard and passed polesitter Stephen Jelley and held on for the win to close the gap to championship leader Ash Sutton.

At the start Jelley led, Ingram managed to pass Senna Proctor in on lap one to take third. Proctor’s team mate Josh Cook lost power coming out of turn one and parked up his Honda. The safety car was brought out while the marshals retrieved his car.

Lap four saw the restart with Jelley, Plato, Ingram and Proctor all close together. Ingram had the quicker car and was chasing Plato for 2nd place.

It wasn’t until lap ten when Plato ran wide at the final hairpin and Ingram and Proctor snuck down the inside to take 2nd and 3rd respectively. The next target for Ingram was Jelley in the BMW out in front.

Plato then lost out to Ash Sutton in his Infiniti as he dove down the inside into turn one.

The move for the lead came on lap 17 as Ingram replicated his move on Plato as he dove down the inside of Jelley and Proctor again was the beneficiary as he followed Ingram through for 2nd place.

Proctor had had a fantastic weekend, holding on to the tail of Ingram and followed him home to finish 2nd in his BTC Honda Civic.

Ingram took the win to close Sutton’s championship lead. Proctor was 2nd with Jelley a distant third.

Shedden, Sutton, Chris Smiley, Moffat, Turkington, Plato and Rowbottom rounded off the top ten to cap off a brilliant round of racing at Knockhill.

Ash Sutton capitalized on a rare Colin Turkington error to take the win in race two at Knockhill and extend his championship lead.

After a titanic race-long battle, Sutton prevailed when Turkington ran wide on the final lap.

At the start, Chris Smiley stalled on the start and didn’t get away, but further back Nicholas Hamilton moved across on Tom Oliphant, and caught the BMW, spinning into the wall and bringing out the safety car.

Lap seven saw the restart, with Josh Cook having to fend off Ash Sutton. On lap nine Sutton managed to pass Cook at the hairpin and began his hunt on Turkington.

On lap 12 Turkington had a 1.1 second lead, by lap 15 they were bumper to bumper. In a fascinating battle Sutton was well in the ascendancy. On lap 17 the pair were side by side heading into the hairpin, but Turkington prevailed this time.

Rory Butcher was fighting up the order and passed Tom Ingram with a nice switchback into the hairpin. By lap 22 he was past Moffat heading down the start-finish straight. However he came across too much on Moffat and the pair collided. Butcher’s race ended in the tyre barrier and brought out a second safety car.

On the restart Turkington was defending hard, heading into the final lap Turkington made an uncharacteristic mistake, running wide and opening the door for Sutton to pass and take the win to extend his title lead.

Turkington came second, with Jake Hill a fine third. Cook, Gordon Shedden, Ingram, Proctor, Jason Plato, Stephen Jelley and Carl Boardley rounded off the top ten.

Colin Turkington cruised to victory to reignite his title challenge, and also took Team WSR’s 100th BTCC win.

The BMW driver led from lights to flag with BTC Racing duo Senna Proctor and Josh Cook both on the podium.

Turkington led off the grid after a good start. By the end of lap three he was 2.5 seconds ahead of Proctor, who had to hold off a train of cars led by Chris Smiley.

On lap four Dan Lloyd went off at the exit of the chicane and hit the wall. This brought out the safety car while his stricken Vauxhall Astra was recovered and the wall fixed.

Lap 11 saw the race resume and Turkington again pulled away, opening up a three second lead easily. Proctor managed to pull away from Smiley too as he cruised to a second placed finish.

His team mate Cook was on the rear bumper of Smiley, looking for an opportunity to overtake. He finally managed it with a bold move down the inside of Clark corner. Reigning champion Ash Sutton then dove down the inside of Smiley at the hairpin to take fourth.

Coming out of the hairpin Tom Oliphant was spun off and retired from the race, with Ollie Jackson also having his own issues, going wide at the hairpin and coming into the pits, never returning to the race.

Turkington took the flag and got his title challenge back underway after a few poor weekends. Proctor and Cook took the other podium places for a strong BTC Racing showing.

Sutton, Smiley, Jake Hill, Aiden Moffat, Gordon Shedden, Rory Butcher and Tom Ingram rounded off the top ten.

Rory Butcher secured the win in round 11 of the British Touring Car Championship in a frenetic second race at Oulton Park.

He took the lead on lap one and held on with Dan Rowbottom and Adam Morgan completing the podium.

Rowbottom made the best start and held on to the lead with Butcher and Gordon Shedden in tow. Butcher held off his brother in law and made a brave move on Rowbottom into the Knickerbrook chicane to take the lead.

On lap two Senna Proctor made a brilliant move down the inside of team mate Josh Cook and Jake Hill into the hairpin and passed both. Behind them Ollie Jackson and Jack Goff both collided. This ended Goff’s 100% points finishes record this season.

On lap three, same place, another collision as Colin Turkington tapped Cook, who slid into Jason Plato, with Cook coming off the worse and retiring from damage.

Butcher was pulling away but Rowbottom had to defend from Morgan, who was having another fantastic weekend around Oulton Park. Securing his second third place finish of the weekend.

Ash Sutton and Tom Ingram are both fighting for the title and have both recovered from setbacks to be in the top ten in race two.

Butcher strolled to the win with Rowbottom in 2nd and Morgan in 3rd. Hill, Moffat, Shedden Jelley, Sutton, Proctor and Ingram rounded off the top ten.

Dan Rowbottom took his first ever BTCC race win in round ten of the British Touring Car Championship at Oulton Park in a two-part race.

On lap eight Tom Oliphant was pitched into a spin by Jason Plato, before being collected by Excelr8 drivers Chris Smiley and Rick Parfitt. On the restart Rowbottom took the lead and held on for the win.

The two Team Dynamics Honda’s made the best start and swamped pole sitter Senna Proctor at the start. Shedden led with Rowbottom close behind, Proctor fell to fifth with Morgan and Butcher getting past too.

Into the long sweeping left hander at Cascades, a few cars were forced off track, with Colin Turkington being one of them, sending him to the back.

By lap three the Honda’s were two seconds clear, as there were five second penalties dished out to Josh Cook, Ollie Jackson and Sam Smelt for being out of position at the start.

With title challenger Tom Ingram starting at the back of the grid, Ash Sutton was thinking about capitalizing on his rival being at the back. However Sutton was in the pits on lap four and fell to the back.

Proctor was recovering from his poor start and by lap seven he managed to pass Butcher at the tight hairpin and went into fourth place.

On lap eight Jason Plato dived down the inside of Tom Oliphant at the final corner, and made contact, spinning the BMW round and leaving him stationary at the top of the hill.

He was an innocent bystander as Chris Smiley hit him, and then shortly after RIck Parfitt careened into him to bring out the red flag. After a short period once debris was cleared, there was a six lap restart.

On the restart Rowbottom held onto the lead and held on, despite a strong fight from his team mate Gordon Shedden. The Scot has previous at Oulton when fighting with team mates, having collided with team mate Matt Neal a few years back to deny the team a 1-2.

Rowbottom held on for his first BTCC win with Shedden, Morgan, Butcher, Jelley, Moffat, Plato, Hill, Proctor and Goff rounding off the top ten.

Adam Morgan took the final win of the day at Brands Hatch, the ninth win of his career and the first for Ciceley’s new car.

He led from start to finish in his new BMW 330i M Sport with Team HARD’s Jack Goff finishing second and Aiden Moffat rounded off the podium for Laser Tools.

Morgan was placed on pole thanks to the reverse grid draw, and used his rear wheel drive to his advantage as he led from lights to flag. Behind him was where all the action was.

There was an exciting race-long fight between Jason Plato and the BTC duo of Josh Cook and Senna Proctor. Proctor passed Plato on lap two before the veteran took his place back in to Druids.

Goff himself was in a new car, the Cupra Leon is new for 2021 and he took second on lap 11 and kept it there for an impressive result for the Team HARD outfit. The only retirement of the race came on lap 11 as Ollie Jackson’s bonnet came up and he pulled into the pits and retired the car to cap off a frustrating weekend for him.

Another person who had a frustrating weekend was Colin Turkington, who avoided going point-less at a BTCC race weekend for the first time since 2003 with a 14th place finish.

Plato managed to pull away from the BTC Honda’s and hunted down Moffat. The pair enjoyed a ding-dong battle to the flag with Moffat prevailing and holding on to third place.

His team mate Ash Sutton took back the lead of the championship with Tom Ingram close behind.

Morgan took the win, win number nine of his career with Goff and Moffat on the podium alongside him. Plato, Cook and Proctor were next, with Rory Butcher, Sutton, Dan Lloyd and Chris Smiley rounding off the top ten.

Tom Ingram took his second win of the season and took the lead of the championship after a last lap pass on Tom Oliphant. Ash Sutton stole second from Oliphant in a battle to the finish line.

A six lap safety car period broke up the race after Stephen Jelley and Gordon Shedden collided at Paddock.

Oliphant had another good start off the line, with Dan Rowbottom atoning for his poor start in race one by rocketing up to second. Shedden is tapped at Paddock Hill bend but recovers. However on lap two he wasn’t as lucky.

Stephen Jelley saw a chance to dive down the inside and Shedden shut the door too late, with the pair going off into the gravel at Paddock. Shedden resumed but Jelley retired and this brought out the Safety Car.

After a six lap Safety Car period racing resumed. On lap ten Jake Hill passed Ingram into Paddock Hill in a brilliant move.

However Hill got a puncture heading into Clearways and lost two laps trying to fix it. Falling from third to the back of the pack.

Rowbottom challenged Oliphant for the lead and went around the outside of Druids. This left the door open for Ingram who took second by the end of lap 18.

There were interesting battles throughout the pack, with Jack Goff and Senna Proctor fighting for tenth place. It was the Yorkshireman who prevailed, finishing tenth ahead of Goff.

On lap 23 of 27 Ingram was on Oliphant’s tail, who was for the second race in a row, defending incredibly well in a much heavier BMW.

Ingram finally made his move on the last lap as he dove down the inside at Paddock and slightly tapped Olihpant’s rear. He managed to get through at Druids and steal away for his second win of the season.

Ash Sutton is a driver who can never be ruled out, as he took third from Rowbottom on the penultimate lap before sneaking past Oliphant in a drag race to the finish line.

Ingram took the win from Sutton and Oliphant on the podium, with Rowbottom, Josh Cook, Dan Lloyd, Chris Smiley, Jason Plato, Aiden Moffat and Senna Proctor rounded off the top ten, with Adam Morgan taking the reverse grid pole position.