BTCC Croft: Sutton Wins But Fails to Extend Championship Lead

For the first time since the season opener at Donnington Park, the three races at Croft saw three different winners.

Race one saw Ford sweep the podium with Cammish winning from Sutton and Rowbottom, with Cook finishing the best of the Independent teams in fourth. Championship challengers Hill, Ingram and Turkington were fifth, sixth and seventh while Osbourne was the best of the Jack Sears Trophy contestants with ninth. Michael Crees’ first race after returning saw him finishing in 21st ahead of debutant Daryl DeLeon in 23rd and Jade Edwards in 24th upon her return to the One Motorsport team.

Race two saw the Fords sweep the podium again, this time with Sutton winning with a commanding seven second lead from Cammish and Rowbottom. Ingram improved on his race one result to finish fourth ahead of Cook’s Honda, again winning the Independent’s class, who fended off Turkington who finished a close sixth. A spin for Jake Hill at turn two saw him finish in 11th, allowing Sutton to extend his championship lead going into the final race of the day.

It seemed like Sutton had luck on his side as the draw saw him start in sixth place for race three, the highest position he could have managed. After Hill spun from sixth in race two, Turkington started on pole and took a comfortable victory, made sweeter by the fortune of Sutton. Contact with Steven Jelley on the first lap left meant both cars were forced to retire early on, slashing the advantage Sutton had worked hard to build over the day. An aggressive move from Ingram on Cook gave him second, piling further misery on Sutton as his championship rivals cut his lead back down.

Cook held on to score a third podium of the season and extend his lead in the Independent’s championship, with the Fords of Cammish and Rowbottom rounding out the top five. Another mistake from Hill attempting to overtake Rowbottom saw him scrambling back to seventh behind Aiden Moffat, hinting at the potential of the Honda Civic Type R in the latter stages of the season. Michael Crees also scored his first points of the season by finishing 11th.

The championship lead is the same as it was after Oulton Park - Sutton leads by six points from Ingram. However, Turkington’s win coupled with mistakes from Hill have seen Turkington leapfrog Hill in the standings to claim third by six points, but still 35 behind Sutton. A strong weekend from Ford also helped Cammish put himself in the mix; he finds himself five points behind Hill and 46 behind Sutton. With a maximum of 268 points left in the season, it is still anyone’s game.