Laser Tools Racing’s Ash Sutton said he was glad to get the opportunity to display the pace of his Infiniti Q50 in the second British Touring Car Championship contest at Oulton Park.
The 2017 champion revealed he struggled with overheating issues in race one which hampered his progress and meant he could only manage eighth after a race-long scrap with Tom Ingram and Adam Morgan.
He signalled his intent early in the second encounter, however, scything from eighth to fourth on the opening laps before dispatching of first Colin Turkington and then Dan Cammish before passing polesitter Rory Butcher for the lead.
He told ITV he was pleased to be able to give his team “the credit they deserve” as well as highlighting the pace of the Infiniti Q50.
“The boys at Laser Tools Racing and BMR Engineering did a mega job, unfortunately we just couldn’t show the potential we had in race one,” he said.
“Unfortunately Tom [Ingram] caught a bit of mud and filled the whole air intake and radiator with mud so we were just literally nursing temperatures.
“So it was nice to actually give the boys the credit they deserve and show what the car can do at the end of the day.”
With a drying track between races two and three at Oulton Park, Sutton admitted he will be hoping for rain so that he can carry maximum ballast with less effect.
“If it stays wet, yeah. If it’s dry, it’s going to be a little bit harder because the ballast is going to show more in the dry than it will do in the wet.
“So I’m going to be doing some rain dances between now and then!”