BTCC Knockhill: Jake Hill undoes his good work as Sutton wins in Race 3

RACE 1

Race one saw some of the most action we've seen in this BTCC season as Ingram crossed the line first but was disqualified for a ride height infringement.

The start saw Ash Sutton get away well in front of Josh Cook and Jake Hill. Cook managed to get past Sutton a few laps in after a mistake at the exit of the chicane, with the two trading paint as Sutton squirmed on the exit kerb. Then the rain came, and it came hard. The field had to navigate the difficult Knockhill track in changing conditions, and as Sutton tried a move around the outside of Cook at turn one, Cook had a moment on the kerb and hit Sutton, spinning out of the race.

Meanwhile, Ingram took the opportunity to be the first of the front runners to pit for wets, which turned out to be an inspired decision as the rain got even heavier. Aiden Moffat ran second for a short time as he and Sutton tried to stick it out on slicks, but a safety car forced Sutton to pit to avoid losing even more time as the field bunched up. Moffat tried to stay out, but this led to him going off track and sustaining race-ending damage, causing another safety car. With a two lap shootout at the end, Ingram held on to cross the line first with Hill second and his Hyundai teammate Tom Chilton in third.

However, the drama did not end after the chequered flag. Ingram and Chilton both failed the ride height checks, leading to disqualification. This left Hill to inherit the win after a tough weekend at Croft last time out, with Andrew Watson taking his first BTCC podium in second place from 15th on the grid as he managed to stay out of trouble. Hill’s BMW teammate Stephen Jelley then took third, with Ricky Collard fourth and Sutton recovering from ninth after the safety cars to take fifth although he was demoted to sixth after a post-race penalty. World Touring Car champion Rob Huff made up seven positions from his qualifying position to take 13th on his return to the BTCC with championship hopefuls Colin Turkington and Dan Cammish finishing in a disappointing 11th and 14th respectively from their points of view.

The chaos in race one set up an interesting race two, with so many cars out of position. The Hyundai’s of Ingram and Chilton will be looking to recover from their disqualifications to score valuable points from the back of the grid, but they will have to pass the Honda’s of Cook and Moffat who will also start in the bottom six along with Rory Butcher. All four cars proved their speed as they all spent time in the top three at some point in the race, with Moffat and Butcher especially looking to put on a show for his home crowd. Cammish and Turkington will also be looking to recover from the midfield, while Sutton will be desperate to catch Hill and extend his championship lead.

Race one proved a godsend for Ash Sutton, who extends his championship lead in light of Ingram’s disqualification from a win which would have put the reigning champion back on top. This left Sutton with a 19 point lead in the championship, with Hill back in third after his win but 34 points behind. The question on everyone’s mind is now: Can Ingram fight back?

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RACE 2

Jake Hill took his fourth win of the season with an impressive defensive drive to hold off Ash Sutton in the dying stages of race two to move up to second in the championship.

Sutton, starting sixth after a post-race penalty, was up to fourth by turn 3 as an incident involving Jade Edwards brought out the safety car after the first lap. After passing Stephen Jelley, he set his sights on Hill’s BMW, spending the second half of the race trying everything to get past whilst Hill repelled every attack. Sutton tried multiple moves into turn three and the hairpin at the final turn but couldn’t find a way past, and the two were separated by just 0.374 seconds at the line. The two showed brilliant pace as they eased away from Jelley lap after lap, who held on to take third place from Aron Taylor-Smith’s Vauxhall in fourth and Dan Lloyd’s Cupra in fifth.

Further back, Ingram and Cook were in the spotlight as they made their way up the grid following their misfortunes in race one. On medium tyres, Cook managed to make up 16 places to finish eighth from 24th on the grid, while Ingram on softs made up the same number of places to finish 10th from 26th. A late crash between Turkington and Cammish saw both retire and score no points, possibly rendering an end to their championship challenges.

The reverse grid draw saw home hero Ronan Pearson drawn on pole for race three, having finished seventh. Hill and Sutton both showed that they have the pace to challenge for the win from that far back on the grid, while Cook will start on the soft compound of tyres with everyone around him starting on mediums. With the pace of the Honda this weekend, he will also be looking to take his first win of the season and start to pressure Cammish for fifth in the championship.

The championship situation after race two at Knockhill sees Ash Sutton extend his championship lead further to 30 points, with Hill and Ingram both tied on points. It looks to be Sutton’s year for a record-equalling fourth time, but as this weekend proves, massive point swings are not out of the realm of possibility.

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RACE 3

Ashley Sutton took a commanding win in race three from sixth on the grid in a race marked by heavy rain. After the race started under the safety car to clear the water he took advantage of Stephen Jelley and Ricky Collard battling to claim third after Aron Taylor-Smith pitted with a problem. After a second safety car to clear Nick Halstead’s Hyundai from the tyre barrier, he picked off Dan Lloyd and Ronan Pearson to take the lead and never looked back, winning with a margin of almost 10 seconds.

Behind him, Cook made his way from eighth on the grid to finish second, while Ingram fought his way up from tenth on the grid to finish third after contact with Dan Lloyd. Hyundai Teammate Ronan Pearson claimed a career best fourth in his rookie season at his home track after leading the early rounds, sacrificing his first podium to let Ingram through to keep the pressure on Sutton in the championship. Collard took a solid fifth in his Toyota, while Dexter Pattison was another to achieve his best finish in the BTCC at his home track with sixth. Aiden Moffat displayed a brilliant attacking performance in the wet to make up 12 positions as he made it three Scots in the top seven from 19th on the grid, while Dan Lloyd held on to round out the top eight after starting third.

Jake Hill will see this weekend as a massive missed opportunity. After taking his second brace of victories of the year, a lock up into the hairpin spun his BMW teammate Stephen Jelley and took them both out of contention for the win. He was unable to recover, and finished the final race of the day in 14th, losing all of the ground he made up on Sutton and Ingram. This leaves Sutton with a 37 point lead over Ingram with 9 races to go, while his lead over Hill is 50 points. Turkington’s miserable day continued with an anonymous 17th place, while Cammish could only manage 10th.

Despite this, the two wins for Jake Hill mean that BMW maintain their lead in the manufacturers championship while NAPA Racing UK lead the team’s championship with their Fords. Cook and Moffat’s performances in race three also mean that there is no change in either Independent’s championship, as Cook and One Motorsport maintain their comfortable leads.

Sutton will be hoping for more weekends like this, as he builds a solid advantage in the drivers championship. If he wins, he will equal Andy Rouse and Colin Turkington for the most number of overall championships in BTCC history, and at 29, he has the time to go one step further. Ingram and Hill have nothing to lose, and will be doing everything they can to stop him. The question now is, is it too little, too late?