Ash Sutton pleased to head title rivals

Ash Sutton admitted he was pleased to outqualify his main title rivals after securing third on the grid for the opening BTCC race of the weekend at Croft.

Sutton spent a chunk of the session on provisional pole in his NAPA Racing-run Ford Focus as he swapped top spot with the Honda of Josh Cook, despite once again with less hybrid than his rivals.

Although he would be knocked back to third by team-mates Dan Cammish and Dan Rowbottom, a second-row start puts Sutton ahead of both Tom Ingram and Jake Hill – his two closest rivals in the points – leaving the former champion in confident mood ahead of race day.

“It’s been a great job by NAPA Racing UK racing today, and I’m over the moon to have Hill and Ingram behind me with some cars in between,” he said.

“It was a tough session and I had to get my head down, and I think there was a little bit more in it as I made a few errors, and the hybrid does make a difference around here.

“When you’re fighting people in the same machinery, it is also more difficult but my full focus is on the championship and in that respect, we’ve kicked things off in the right way.

“Some solid results tomorrow will make up for Oulton Park, so we’ll knuckle down and push hard.”