Ash Sutton v Colin Turkington: Five key moments

The battle for the 2017 BTCC title will come down to the final three races of the campaign this weekend at Brands Hatch with Ash Sutton and Colin Turkington going head-to-head for the title.

Sutton leads the way by ten points having recovered from a disastrous start to the campaign at Brands Hatch back in April, but Turkington will be pushing hard as he bids to secure the title for a third time.

But how did it come to this – and where might the title have been won and lost?

Here are five key moments on track that may well decide the destiny of the title…

Brands Hatch Indy: Rounds 1-3
The opening meeting proves to be a disaster for Sutton as he fails to even register a point. BMR struggles to get the Levorg to perform throughout the weekend and despite the best efforts of the Jack Sears Trophy holder, Turkington is able to recover from a start-line incident in race one to pick up 26 points.

Donington Park: Qualifying
Sutton springs a surprise by storming to pole position for the second meeting of the campaign at Donington Park – but it proves to be a false dawn as an overboost issue sees him excluded from the session.

Although he recovers to take two podiums on race day, Turkington extends his advantage over his rival to 39 points.

Oulton Park: Round 10
Taking a 50 point advantage into the Oulton Park weekend, Turkington fails to score in the opening race after picking up damage to his car – which then impact on the remainder of race day.

Just 14 points are the end result, with Sutton picking up his first win of the year in a much improved Subaru to outscore the Northern Irishman by 36 points; bringing the gap between the pair down to just 14.

Snetterton: Rounds 16 & 18
The battle between the duo swings like a pendulum at Snetterton, with Turkington seeming to have the edge early on in race one before he suffers a spin whilst leading – with Sutton going on to take victory instead.

A second win in race two means Sutton moves ahead of Turkington in the standings but when he then gets caught up in an incident on lap one of race three, Turkington edges back ahead with his second podium of the weekend.

Silverstone: Round 26
Going into the final lap of the second race at Silverstone, Turkington sits ahead of Sutton on track but that all changes when the Subaru man makes his move into the final corner. Contact follows as Sutton forces his way through only for officials to then penalise him afterwards and swap the positions back round.

As a third strike for Sutton, he is demoted to the back of the grid as a result, and although he recovers to score in race three after Turkington is caught up in an incident, Sutton loses three crucial points as a result of the penalty; meaning Turkington outscored him over the weekend as a whole.

Key Figures:

Wins:
Sutton 6, Turkington 3

Podiums:
Sutton 13, Turkington 12

Fastest Laps:
Sutton 4, Turkington 7

Laps Led:
Sutton 74, Turkington 35

Bonus Points:
Sutton 11, Turkington 10

No scores:
Sutton 4, Turkington 3

Highest score:
Sutton 56 (Croft), Turkington 50 (Croft)

Higher weekend score:
Sutton 4, Turkington 5

Lowest score:
Sutton 0 (Brands Indy), Turkington 14 (Oulton Park)

Biggest swing:
Sutton +36 (Oulton Park), Turkington +26 (Brands Indy)

Points lost:
Sutton 3, Turkington 0