Ash Sutton celebrates title win with victory in Brands Hatch finale
Ash Sutton celebrated his third BTCC title with a straightforward victory in the final race of the weekend at Brands Hatch.
The Laser Tools Racing driver had started from fourth on the grid but wasted little time in working his way to the front, nosing inside pole sitter Stephen Jelley on the exit of Clearways on lap three to move to the head of the pack.
Dan Rowbottom followed him through and looked like he could challenge the Infiniti racer before a mid-race safety car to allow Jack Mitchell’s car to be recovered from the gravel at Hawthorns.
After the restart, Sutton eased away from Rowbottom to grab the win, with the Team Dynamics driver coming under pressure from a charging Tom Ingram – who had rocketed up the order from outside the top ten.
With his Hyundai running ballast free, Ingram picked off the cars ahead to work his way into the top three but was unable to find a way through and had to settle for third spot, with Jake Hill, Josh Cook and Tom Chilton following behind to round out the top six.
Jelley’s bid to end his season on a high would be ended by contact from Hill that saw him spin, and it wasn’t the only BMW to hit trouble, with early race contact accounting for Colin Turkington as he retired.
