Laser Tools Racing’s Ash Sutton is aiming to “manage the points gap” to main title rival Colin Turkington in the final British Touring Car Championship race of the 2020 season at Brands Hatch.
The 2017 champion progressed from third to second in the opening encounter, before overcoming wet-shod runner Tom Chilton’s initial lead in the second contest to eventually win comfortably with a margin of nearly five seconds over Tom Ingram at the chequered flag.
Sutton said he was keen to “keep out of trouble” after “all hell broke loose” behind him on the opening lap, and was mindful of building a gap and keeping clean while the other title protagonists were involved in drama.
“Obviously, on the opening lap everybody’s a bit cautious and all hell broke loose behind me. I got a little tap from Tom [Ingram], but it’s just those conditions – there was nothing he could do, I think he was getting pushed from behind,” said Sutton.
“From that moment on, it was just a case of getting my head down, keeping out of trouble and pulling the gap we needed. It’s touring cars, and it can change so quickly.”
Admitting he would have liked to extend the points advantage further over Turkington, Sutton believes “anything can happen” in the season finale and will be “managing the points gap” as the race pans out.
“Obviously I would have liked a few more cars between myself and Colin [Turkington], but he took advantage of what happened on lap one and came through,” he said.
“Anything can happen in the reversed grid race, so we’ll wait and see. We’re in a good position as it is, so it’s just going to be a case of managing the points gap to Colin.”
The final race of the 2020 British Touring Car Championship is scheduled to get underway at 15:20 GMT.