Ash Sutton claims 50th BTCC win in Brands Hatch opener
Ash Sutton wracked up his 50th career win in the British Touring Car Championship after producing a sublime lights-to-flag performance in race one at Brands Hatch.
Starting on pole position, the Alliance Racing driver soaked up immense pressure from Ricky Collard throughout the first half of the contest before then breaking clear to cruise home to clinch a landmark triumph.
Moments before the lights went out, rain began to fall on the Kent circuit which meant that the opening laps were somewhat precarious.
Sutton and Collard made the best starts of those at the front with the four-time champion streaking clear, whilst Collard squeezed past Daryl De Leon and Dan Cammish to take second place.
No sooner had the race begun, the safety car was out to recover the stricken Mercedes of Adam Morgan who had skated off the circuit at Paddock Hill Bend.
On the restart, Sutton controlled proceedings out front but soon started to come under threat from Collard, with the Hyundai driver filling the mirrors of the Ford man.
With a superior amount of TOCA Turbo Boost available to him, Collard hit the front on several occasions but Sutton wasted no time in fighting back each time. As the race then began to draw towards its conclusion, the Sutton broke clear and cruised to a memorable win.
Collard clinched a second successive podium finish while reigning champion Tom Ingram got the better of Dan Cammish late on to claim the final spot on the rostrum. Behind them, Tom Chilton fought his way up from 14th on the grid to cross the line in fifth.
Another driver to make several eye-catching moves was the third Alliance Ford of Sam Osborne. Hot on his heels was the lead Independent Mikey Doble, who had to fend off the challenge of Chris Smiley, Charles Rainford and the recovering De Leon.
Race two at Brands Hatch is scheduled to get underway before 14:45 local time/15:45 CEST.
