There were a trio of different winners at Brands Hatch at the weekend in the latest round of the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship.

Ash Sutton took his 50th career BTCC victory in the opening race on Sunday morning. Before Aron Taylor-Smith took his first victory of the season in race two of the day. Tom Ingram, also then took his first victory of the season to round off the afternoon, in the final race of the weekend.

Sutton leaves Brands Hatch with a healthy points lead as the season heads to Snetterton for the late May Bank Holiday weekend.

In race one Sutton took the lead from pole position, and it was his teammate Dan Cammish who initially slotted into second after Daryl De Leon’s anticipated quick start in the WSR BMW didn’t materialise. But conditions were slippery, and Cammish ran wide just moments later at Graham Hill Bend. With De Leon bogging down and dropping out of the hunt at the front, it was Ricky Collard who moved into second as Sutton’s nearest challenger.

While conditions were greasy, the short Indy circuit lap didn’t afford any opportunity to pit for wets. Nic Hamilton and Max Buxton tried, but both dropped off the lead lap, forcing those at the front to press on. And this cost Adam Morgan at the start of lap two when he slid off the road from fourth and into the Paddock Hill gravel trap in his Cataclean Plato Racing Mercedes.

This brought things to a temporary halt as the safety car was summoned, but full-speed action soon resumed on lap nine, with the race distance extended from 24 to 27 laps. Collard attacked immediately, with his Team VERTU Hyundai gently nudging Sutton at Clearways. The loss of momentum briefly allowed his reigning champion teammate Tom Ingram to get alongside, but Collard held on and the recovering Cammish slipped through behind Collard to take third.

In the laps that followed, Collard briefly took the lead at Paddock Hill Bend after a rapid run over the start-finish line. But Sutton was back past by Surtees and, even though Collard attempted to repeat the move, he could never quite find a way to pass the Ford. Following a series of mid-race attempts, Sutton settled into a rhythm as the race reached the midway point and drove home to the flag.

For a time, Collard dropped back into Cammish’s clutches, but the other NAPA Racing UK entry couldn’t find an opening either. This allowed Collard to secure second place, though Ingram did sneak past Cammish three laps from the end to guarantee a visit to the podium. Cammish had to settle for fourth, with the watchful Tom Chilton who circulated behind the leading quartet for much of the race rounding out the top five.

Behind them, Sam Osborne completed an all Ford and Hyundai top six. Mikey Doble was another to bag a solid haul of points after guiding his Audi through the drama to seventh, just ahead of Chris Smiley and Charles Rainford. De Leon passed the flag in 10th, recovering a strong finish after losing ground rapidly early on.

After the race, Cammish and Chilton were both handed penalties for separate incidents. However as they were both for five seconds, they essentially canceled each other out on the results. De Leon was also docked five seconds, promoting Cook to the top 10.

At the start of race two, it was the race one protagonists who featured most prominently, with series leader Ash Sutton leading away from pole in his NAPA Racing UK Ford. Ricky Collard was his nearest rival in the first of the Team VERTU Hyundais as the field streamed through Paddock Hill for the first time, with teammate Tom Ingram tucked in behind.

But full-speed action was halted almost immediately after Lewis Selby’s Ford got beached in the gravel trap. Action resumed on lap seven, and there was immediate movement at the front as Collard moved into the lead with a strong move on the Cooper Straight. Slowed in the aftermath of this, Sutton fell straight back into Ingram’s clutches, and the duo were soon under attack from Charles Rainford’s WSR BMW, which had overtaken Dan Cammish’s Ford for fourth earlier in the lap.

Just a couple of laps later, Rainford overtook Ingram after getting a strong run along the Brabham Straight. Just two more tours of the Indy circuit later, Rainford tried something similar on Sutton but found the door firmly closed and the duo made contact. With drizzle continuing to make the circuit slippery, Taylor-Smith was beginning  to make inroads into the top-10.

On lap 13, Collard ran wide through Surtees and Sutton attacked but couldn’t pass him. Rainford was delayed as they backed up though, losing ground to Ingram, Sam Osborne, Cammish and Taylor-Smith who was now up to sixth.

The drama continued the next time around as Cammish ran off the circuit at Paddock Hill Bend, handing another position to Taylor-Smith. Meanwhile, at the front, Ingram and Sutton made contact at Clark Curve. Both continued, but Taylor-Smith continued to carry the momentum forward and he was second, seemingly from nowhere by the end of lap 15.

Two laps later, Collard’s valiant attempt to win for the first time in the BTCC came to an end when Taylor-Smith took a lead he was never to lose. Sutton too made his way past Collard, though the Hyundai did manage to hold its own in third ahead of Ingram’s sister car.

By the time Rainford and Osborne both slid into the gravel at Druids, just a few laps from the scheduled end, Taylor-Smith was over three seconds clear of Sutton. And he was duly rewarded with victory when it was confirmed that the race would end under red flag conditions. This meant he was joined by Sutton and Collard on the podium.

Behind that, Ingram crossed the line fourth after his lively outing, while Aiden Moffat was fifth following an entertaining scrap with Audi A3 teammate Mikey Doble. Josh Cook, James Dorlin, Dexter Patteerson and Daryl De Leon followed them home on the road.

In race three, pole-sitter James Dorlin made the best start off the line, with Ash Sutton making a bold move around the outside at Paddock Hill to jump up from seventh to third. Ingram moved into second past his rival as Dan Cammish found the barriers on the run up to Druids hairpin. However, it didn’t take Ingram long to make his move as he passed the fellow Hyundai of Dorlin around the outside of Paddock Hill to claim a lead he wouldn’t relinquish.

Championship-leader Sutton then set about challenging Dorlin for second, but the Restart Racing driver defended stoutly. Ricky Collard, after two back-to-back podiums, would not make it a trio of top-three finishes as he slowed to the back of the grid on lap four to take him out of contention.

Mikey Doble showcased the speed of the LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing Audi A3 Saloon as he circulated in fourth for the first half of the race, before tussling with Sutton as the pair vied for third place. However, it would eventually be the four-time champion who would come out on top to claim second.

Ingram crossed the line to win by 3.848s from Sutton. Doble claimed the final podium spot, while Daryl De Leon fought from tenth to fourth for West Surrey Racing. Josh Cook converted second on the grid to a top-five finish as he came home in fifth.

Adam Morgan ended a difficult weekend for Plato Racing on a more positive note with a sixth-place finish, followed by Gordon Shedden, James Dorlin, Aron Taylor-Smith and Aiden Moffat in tenth.

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