![Ash Sutton, NAPA Racing UK [Alliance Racing], Ford Focus ST NGTC](https://www.touringcars.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Ash-Sutton.jpg "Photo: Pat Cranham")
Ash Sutton endured his worst weekend of the season in last weekend’s British Touring Car Championship races at Oulton Park, with the four-time champion vowing to go in ‘full attack mode’ after the summer break.
NAPA Racing UK’s Sutton had shown promising form early on in the weekend, qualifying on the front row of the grid despite having the least amount of hybrid boost of any driver in the field.
The Ford racer then took the challenge to pole-sitter Tom Ingram in the opening encounter on Sunday, including having an attempt on the lead on the second lap.
Having then settled into second, Sutton was once again following Ingram in third in race two when he was shown the black-and-orange flag due to loose bodywork on his Focus.
Having to pit for remedial work, Sutton fell out of the points to 16th. From the eighth row of the grid in the final race, the 30-year-old had fought his way up to seventh before suffering more mechanical dramas, as the inner wheelarch of his car came loose and forced him to pit once again, dropping him out of the points.
Those results have dropped Sutton to third in the drivers’ standings, 24 points from the series lead, but he has vowed to come back fighting at the next round at Croft when he will have a slight increase in hybrid boost.
“I’ll just take it on the chin, if I’m honest, it’s touring car racing,” said Sutton to TouringCars.Net. “We had our share of bad luck in race two and three.
“Ultimately, if we didn’t have a mechanical flag in race two, however that was caused, whether it was damage or contact with the tyre stack, we would have had a solid result for a hard tyre race.
“In the last race, the car was phenomenal as we came charging through. We had outright pace in it and I set the fastest lap whilst overtaking two cars. I couldn’t really complain at all, it was really good.
“I’m not sure if the damage stemmed from a tyre stack, but the arch liner dropped down going through Turn 2, it dug into the tyre and caused me a slow puncture, so I had to pit. It was a bit of a shame.
“There’s been a big swing in terms of the championship, which isn’t ideal. But it will be the first time we go to an event [at Croft] with some decent hybrid compared to what we’re used to.
“With the pace we’ve got in the car and what we’re hoping to do we’ll try to stick at the front and score those big points.
“We’ve got to go in full attack mode. If we came here with the hybrid we’re going to Croft with, we would have had an extra two and a half tenths in the car.
“I’m not sure what that delta is going to be at Croft, but we’re going to go there with the aim to stick it on pole and come away with at least two race wins and a solid race three to claw some of these points back.
“It’s a real kick in the nuts, I won’t lie, but I’ve been in this championship long enough now to know it’s all swings and roundabouts and we all go through our bad weekends.
“You saw the swing [in points] I’ve had this weekend and it’s going to happen to someone else.”