Ash Sutton ends the day fastest as wet weather affects afternoon running

Reigning champion Ash Sutton ended the final official pre-season British Touring Car Championship test at Donington Park with the top time, having gone quickest in the afternoon before the rain arrived.

Tom Ingram had laid down the benchmark in the morning session with a lap of 1 minute 8.298 seconds, but Sutton bettered that in the afternoon session, in which he only put in eight laps, with an effort of 1:07.997 around an hour into the running.

EXCELR8 Motorsport’s Ronan Pearson had topped the times early on, before NAPA Racing UK’s Dan Cammish then became the first driver below the 1:09 lap time, with an effort of 1:08.436.

Chilton went three tenths quicker 20 minutes later with a 1:08.178, before Sutton laid down the best time of the day just two minutes later, before rain later arrived at the East Midlands circuit.

Cammish was nonetheless second overall behind his team-mate, having bettered his time to be just 0.098 seconds adrift of the leading Ford.

Chilton’s best lap was good enough for third in the combined classification, whilst Ingram failed to improve on his morning effort which left him fourth overall.

Daniel Rowbottom made it three NAPA cars in the top five, ahead of the best BMW of Laser Tools Racing’s Jake Hill in sixth.

Toyota’s series returnee Rob Huff was seventh, another driver who didn’t go quicker in the one hour of dry running in the afternoon, ahead of BMW’s Colin Turkington in eighth.

The top ten was completed by drivers who did their best laps in the morning: Toyota’s Andrew Watson and the Hyundai of Pearson, the latter just over seven tenths off the pace.

The top 13 drivers were covered by less than a second.

Darl DeLeon completed one non-timed lap in the afternoon, his Unlimited Motorsport mechanics having worked all through the day to try to get the car completed for a run.

The BTCC season opener takes place at Donington Park on 27 – 28 April.

Afternoon session results

POS	NO	NAT	DRIVER	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	GAP
1	1		Ashley SUTTON	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	8	1:07.997	–
2	27		Dan CAMMISH	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	31	1:08.095	0.098
3	3		Tom CHILTON	BRISTOL STREET MOTORS	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	20	1:08.178	0.181
4	32		Daniel ROWBOTTOM	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	14	1:08.431	0.434
5	24		Jake HILL	Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport	BMW 330e M Sport	14	1:08.523	0.526
6	80		Tom INGRAM	BRISTOL STREET MOTORS	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	9	1:08.536	0.539
7	20		Colin TURKINGTON	Team BMW	BMW 330e M Sport	7	1:08.649	0.652
8	11		Andrew WATSON	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	17	1:08.731	0.734
9	12		Rob HUFF	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	15	1:08.945	0.948
10	16		Aiden MOFFAT	LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	18	1:08.951	0.954
11	40		Árón TAYLOR-SMITH	Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing	Vauxhall Astra	17	1:08.954	0.957
12	88		Mikey DOBLE	Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing	Vauxhall Astra	21	1:09.061	1.064
13	14		Ronan PEARSON	BRISTOL STREET MOTORS	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	24	1:09.138	1.141
14	77		Sam OSBORNE	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	18	1:09.158	1.161
15	66		Josh COOK	LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	19	1:09.402	1.405
16	222		Chris SMILEY	Restart Racing	CUPRA Leon	15	1:09.474	1.477
17	33		Adam MORGAN	Team BMW	BMW 330e M Sport	9	1:09.597	1.600
18	29		Scott SUMPTON	Restart Racing	CUPRA Leon	13	1:09.985	1.988
19	22		Nick HALSTEAD	BRISTOL STREET MOTORS	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	14	1:10.643	2.646
20	18		Daryl DELEON	Unlimited Motorsport	CUPRA Leon	1	No time	N/A

Combined session results

POS	NO	NAT	DRIVER	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	GAP
1	1		Ashley SUTTON	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	79	1:07.997	–
2	27		Dan CAMMISH	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	62	1:08.095	0.098
3	3		Tom CHILTON	BRISTOL STREET MOTORS	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	77	1:08.178	0.181
4	80		Tom INGRAM	BRISTOL STREET MOTORS	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	59	1:08.298	0.301
5	32		Daniel ROWBOTTOM	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	65	1:08.431	0.434
6	24		Jake HILL	Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport	BMW 330e M Sport	56	1:08.523	0.526
7	12		Rob HUFF	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	71	1:08.618	0.621
8	20		Colin TURKINGTON	Team BMW	BMW 330e M Sport	70	1:08.649	0.652
9	11		Andrew WATSON	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	62	1:08.678	0.681
10	14		Ronan PEARSON	BRISTOL STREET MOTORS	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	49	1:08.704	0.707
11	33		Adam MORGAN	Team BMW	BMW 330e M Sport	61	1:08.782	0.785
12	16		Aiden MOFFAT	LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	55	1:08.827	0.830
13	40		Árón TAYLOR-SMITH	Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing	Vauxhall Astra	46	1:08.954	0.957
14	88		Mikey DOBLE	Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing	Vauxhall Astra	55	1:09.061	1.064
15	77		Sam OSBORNE	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	72	1:09.158	1.161
16	66		Josh COOK	LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	52	1:09.402	1.405
17	222		Chris SMILEY	Restart Racing	CUPRA Leon	48	1:09.474	1.477
18	29		Scott SUMPTON	Restart Racing	CUPRA Leon	43	1:09.985	1.988
19	22		Nick HALSTEAD	BRISTOL STREET MOTORS	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	46	1:10.643	2.646
20	18		Daryl DELEON	Unlimited Motorsport	CUPRA Leon	1	No time	N/A