BTCC: Sutton Tactics Maximised His Day as Shedden Breaks Winless Streak

With no opportunities for work on The MotorPost TV, it would be cruel not to provide our readers with a rundown of how the KwikFit British Touring Car Championship played out at Oulton Park this weekend.

Qualifying

Team VERTU’s Tom Ingram smashed the lap record on his way to pole position for the opening race at Oulton Park – setting a 1:23.856 and beating nearest rival Chris Smiley of Restart Racing by half a second.

The second row consisted of NAPA Racing team-mates Dan Cammish and Ash Sutton, while James Dorlin put his Toyota in the quick six for the second weekend in a row. Adam Morgan completed the quick six.

Dan Lloyd felt he had a lot of pace, but was frustratingly set back by a disqualification for a ride height infringement, forcing him to start Race 1 from the rear of the field.

Race 1

Race One had not even started when BTCC debutant Finn Leslie’s Toyota ground to a halt with a driveshaft failure on the way to the grid. The field circulated once more while his car was pushed back to the pit lane, before the grid reformed.

With a great launch, Cammish made a move on Smiley before they arrived at turn one, then Ash Sutton followed through around the outside at Cascades. 

Stephen Jelley and Sam Osborne collided out of the hairpin on lap two, resulting in a Safety Car to repair the barrier into which Osborne’s car bounced. Both cars escaped relatively unscathed.

The SC restart saw no changes to the top six, and later in the lap, Un-Limited Motorsport team-mates Dexter Patterson and Max Hall collided, causing terminal damage to both Cupras.

A nasty crunch occurred at the hairpin on lap 11, where Daryl DeLeon ran into the back of Aron Taylor-Smith and sent the Toyota into Aidan Moffat.

Tom Ingram who took the spoils of victory at Oulton Park by three seconds with the fastest lap, ahead of Cammish, who took his fourth podium of the year, and a last-lap move from Smiley on Sutton secured a spot on the podium for him as highest-placed Independent driver.

Ash Sutton’s move to give up third place was a tactical one: as the top three finishers must use the hard tyre for race two. With a threat of rain later on, if the wets must be used in race three, Sutton could avoid using the hard tyre altogether.

Restart Racing’s Dan Lloyd started 24th, but with a superb effort and some decisive overtakes, he made his way up to 12th by the chequered flag.

With his victory, Ingram moved into the championship lead by a single point over Sutton.

Race 2

Ingram started from pole, accompanied by Cammish and Smiley on the hard tyre compound. They had the tough challenge of competing with the soft tyre runners without slipping too far back.

Sutton cleared Smiley off the line and passed his NAPA Racing team-mate Dan Cammish into turn two. He took the lead off Ingram into the hairpin on lap two – quickly followed by Adam Morgan.

A Safety Car was called on lap three when hard charger Dan Lloyd shunted into the barrier approaching Druids Corner. He took too much kerb while attempting a run on Josh Cook up the hill, resulting in a huge 100+ miles per hour collision with the tyre barrier.

The race resumed coming to lap 10 where Sutton led from Morgan and Chilton. Cammish, on hard tyres, rapidly fell back to eighth. 

Charles Rainford’s BMW found the barrier on the outside of turn one while battling with Gordon Shedden. Despite damage to both his car and the wall, Rainford and the race continued with only a yellow flag at turn one. 

Aron Taylor-Smith pulled over with a mechanical issue, prompting yellow flags around Druids corner, compromising more overtaking opportunities towards the conclusion of race two.

At the chequered flag, Sutton claimed his 46th career victory – his fourth of the season – with the fastest lap. Adam Morgan and Tom Chilton completed the podium, while Ingram managed to hang on to fourth place over reigning champion Jake Hill. 

With that result, the championship lead swung seven points in favour of Ash Sutton.

Race 3

Gordon Shedden won the reverse grid pole position for race three from the random draw, taken by Steve Rider in honour of his last weekend as a presenter after 48 iconic years working in front of the camera.

With consistent rainfall between races two and three, all drivers started on the wet tyres. 

Round 15 kicked off with Shedden leading out of turn one followed by Cook, Hill, Rowbottom and Ingram.

Cook went straight on at the chicane and lost second place to Hill. The following lap, while seeking a way past the BMW driver, Cook found the gravel trap at Lodge. Although he could initially continue, sustained damages forced him to pit. 

Ash Sutton methodically worked past Cammish and Proctor to chase down the top three with a fastest lap. 

Restart Racing’s rollercoaster weekend continued with a miserable race three: Chris Smiley retired on the first lap and Dan Lloyd, from 11th place, missed the hairpin and had to turn around.

Meanwhile, WSR’s Daryl DeLeon pitted for hard tyres.

Max Hall beached his Un-Limited Motorsport Cupra in the gravel at Lodge corner and triggered a safety car on lap seven.

The race continued coming to lap 10 where Sutton stole third from team-mate Rowbottom while they battled with Jake Hill.

Mikey Doble was wiped out of the race at the chicane when he was hit hard from Chilton behind and initiated a second safety car period to assist the stranded Vauxhall Astra.

Jake Hill covered an attack from Ash Sutton on the restart on lap 14. Nicolas Hamilton’s stricken Cupra sat on the grass backwards at the end of turn one, halting any overtaking manoeuvres on the start-finish straight. Stephen Jelley’s One Motorsport Honda was also stationary after Cascades. 

With just two laps to go, Jake Hill slid off the track with a costly error at Cascades while pressuring Shedden. Sutton inherited P2 with Rowbottom completing the top three, under relentless pressure from Ingram behind. The BMW driver recovered down in P7.

Gordon Shedden took his 53rd career victory at Oulton Park for Toyota – and his first win since Croft in 2022. It was a fantastic effort, using all his experience to stay cool under the pressure of drivers behind, through the race start and two safety car restarts. It was a much-needed victory for Toyota who have been struggling for pace all season – and have suffered a lot of poor luck with it. The whole team will be thrilled with the points and morale boost.

It was an incredible effort from rookie Charles Rainford, who started in last place due to a disqualification from race two for a boost infringement. He worked his way up to ninth by the chequered flag in the tricky changing conditions.

Sutton extended his championship lead with momentum into the second half of he season carrying him ever closer to a fifth drivers’ championship. But Tom Ingram will not make it easy, and with the relentless consistency from the likes of Cammish and Rowbottom, the title could swing any which way over the remaining 15 races.