Ash Sutton positive with pace after Donington drama

Ash Sutton was in a buoyant mood leaving Donington Park, after claiming his second win of the British Touring Car Championship season before contact in race three set his championship charge back once again.

Sutton had been on the pace throughout the weekend, with the NAPA Racing UK driver qualifying in fourth on Saturday, less than two tenths from pole.

The four-time champion then jumped up to third at the start of the opening race, before breezing past Josh Cook for second a couple of laps later.

Showing pace to keep race leader Colin Turkington honest, Sutton had to settle for second after failing to find a way past the leading BMW, having got the gap down to just three tenths of a second at one stage.

Sutton wasted no time in getting past Turkington in race two, powering past the Northern Irishman on the run through Schwantz curve to take a lead he would hold on to for the rest of the race, recording his second win of the year and the 41^st of his BTCC career.

However, Sutton’s weekend ended on a frustrating note in the finale, as his race three lasted in effect less than a lap before contact with Tom Chilton at the Fogarty Esses broke the toe link on his right-rear wheel, forcing him into the pits for repairs.

Despite the end to his weekend, Sutton remained positive with the overall outcome, which has seen him lose no ground compared to the start of the weekend and remain 20 points adrift of the top of the table.

“The weekend has been really positive, if I’m honest,” Sutton told TouringCars.Net. “It’s the best I’ve felt with the car this year.

“We were OK in the wet or the dry on Saturday, and in race one I converted qualifying fourth into second, which was really good. The car had the pace and we went after Colin as well, which showed we had potential.

“Race two in mixed conditions put it in our favour at the start. The car was definitely fast enough. [Tom] Ingram had the hybrid, which brought him into the fight in race two, but he obviously had his engine issues. But then it was all undone in race three – it’s a typical touring car weekend.

“I probably got hit three or four times from three or four different drivers, so it was really unlucky where we were positioned with the mêlée that was going on during lap one.

“Ultimately the bit of contact that broke the toe link was from Chilton. Was it malicious? No, it was just one of those situations where three into one didn’t work and unfortunately, we were slap bang in the middle.

“The car felt good – we were making really good changes going into race three. Even when we were in clear air, with a little bit of damage, we were the second fastest car on track with no hybrid, so I’m really pleased with the performance we’ve got in the car.

“Going into the last round we’ve got a little bit more hybrid than the two in front of us. Would I prefer that or points? I’d probably say points.

“We’re just going to go as hard as we can – we’ve got nothing to lose now. I’ll dig out the old Ash – I’ve got the car under me so I’ll see if I can claw it back.”