Ash Sutton admitted that he was ‘not sure how’ he had managed to hold on to the lead of the British Touring Car Championship standings after Oulton Park, after the Laser Tools Racing driver managed just one top ten finish all weekend.
Sutton went into the fourth event of the season with a three-point advantage over Tom Ingram at the top of the drivers’ standings, and after Oulton Park he extended that to five points over Ingram.
However, the Infiniti driver admitted he was surprised to have held on to his lead, after managing a best result of just eighth in Cheshire.
Saturday saw Sutton put his car in tenth for the first race, laden with full success ballast of 75 kg for leading the standings.
However, in an eventful race one, Sutton was pushed wide onto the grass at Cascades on the opening lap, dropping him to the back of the field after a quick pit stop.
A red flag at the mid-distance allowed Sutton to get back into the mix, and from 24th on the re-formed grid he was up to 18th by the end of the first lap.
Over the next five laps, the 28-year-old passed several more cars, eventually finishing 14th in the brief six-lap second part of the race.
Ballast-free for race two, Sutton made further ground up to eighth, which then gave him second on the grid for the reversed-grid final race of the day.
With soft tyres on his car, Sutton immediately challenged for the lead in race three, only for the race to be stopped due to a multi-car incident on the opening lap.
Attempting to repeat the feat at the restart, Sutton and pole-sitter Senna Proctor made contact at the first turn, sending Sutton spinning in front of the pack.
Although Sutton recovered, at Cascades the BMW of Colin Turkington made contact with Sutton’s team-mate Carl Boardley, with the latter then inadvertently making contact with Sutton, sending him spinning into the gravel and out of the race with broken suspension.
“We’ve somehow managed to come away with a five-point lead however I’m really not sure how,” said Sutton. “Luck wasn’t on our side on race day but that seemed to be the case for a few others.
“Had I not had such a messy race one then the day could have panned out differently. We managed to salvage a few points following the restart and then in race two I was able to make my way further forward once again, although not as far as I’d have liked.
“When we got drawn onto the front row for the reverse grid race it looked like we had salvaged something good, but it all kicked off and I ended up watching from the sidelines.
“Once again the guys and girls at Laser Tools Racing have given me a phenomenal car all weekend. We’re still leading the championship and I’ll head to Knockhill ready to keep on pushing!”
Sutton also paid tribute to the marshal who was sadly killed in an incident at an event at Brands Hatch on Saturday.
“Finally, I want to send my thoughts and condolences to the family and friends of the volunteer marshal that tragically lost their life at Brands Hatch on Saturday.
“The motorsport community is a tight knit one and without the orange army we wouldn’t be able to go racing.”