Ash Sutton heads Triple Eight Racing one-two in first Silverstone race

Ash Sutton led home Josh Cook for a Triple Eight Racing one-two in the opening race at Silverstone, with the pair both getting the better of Speedworks Motosport’s Tom Ingram after an exciting three-way fight at the front.

Ingram got the jump at the start and led the opening six laps, but poleman Sutton was never far behind and forced his MG 6 down the inside of the Toyota Avensis at Luffield on lap seven to establish a lead he would never lose.

The closing Cook had passed Andrew Jordan’s Motorbase Performance Ford Focus at Becketts on lap five and then tapped Ingram to pass at Luffield on lap 12, but Sutton was able to hold him off to win by just under a second. It marks his second win of his maiden BTCC season after also taking victory in the wet final race at Croft.

1.45pm update: Both MGs excluded, Tom Ingram inherits win

While the action was frantic at the front, it was a race where the championship contenders struggled. Both of the Team Dynamics Honda Civics of Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden were hit by punctures, meaning West Surrey Racing’s Sam Tordoff managed to extend his championship lead despite only finishing 13th.

Behind the top three, Jordan had a fairly lonely run to fourth, with Handy Motorsport’s Rob Austin getting the better of Ciceley Racing’s Adam Morgan to take fifth.

Team Hard’s Jake Hill was a superb seventh in his Toyota Avensis ahead of Team BKR’s Aron Smith, with West Surrey Racing’s Rob Collard the highest of the championship contenders in ninth and Team BMR’s Colin Turkington a superb 10th from the back of the grid.

The crowds were treated to the usual high-speed trains of cars on the Silverstone National circuit, happily without major incident. However, lap 20 saw a very near miss when Martin Depper and Collard made contact exiting Copse and tagged Aiden Moffat into a huge tank-slapper. The BMW and Mercedes both recovered but Depper exited stage right minus a wheel, which the chasing pack narrowly avoided.

The incident followed a fierce battle between Moffat and Neal, which ultimately ended when the Civic pulled into the pits with a front left puncture on lap 21.

Tordoff now leads Neal by eight points with five races left in the season, with Shedden 23 back in third and Collard 27 behind in fourth. He jumped Motorbase Performance’s Mat Jackson, who trailed home out of the points in 19th after a strong early part of the race.

The second BTCC race takes place at 14:32 BST.