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Ashley Sutton goes to the top of the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship standings ahead of Colin Turkington after three top-five finishes at Thruxton




Ashley Sutton moved to the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship summit with a trio of top-five finishes at Thruxton.

Arriving at the fastest circuit in the UK trailing Colin Turkington by 10 points, the Bishop's Stortford driver did not put a wheel wrong in his Infiniti Q50, making progress in each encounter to leave the Hampshire venue holding a 16-point advantage with four rounds remaining.

The Laser Tools Racing competitor posted the 11th fastest time in qualifying whilst ladened with 54kg of success ballast.

Ashley Sutton at Thruxton. Picture: Jakob Ebrey Photography (42354876)
Ashley Sutton at Thruxton. Picture: Jakob Ebrey Photography (42354876)

Sutton got past Turkington in race one before his title rival suffered mechanical woes and dropped down the order, with the former finishing in fifth.

Carrying less success ballast in race two, the former Birchwood High School pupil took the fight to the top three throughout and just missed out on a podium finish in fourth.

Sutton, the 2017 champion, began the reverse-grid race in fifth and bagged another fourth-place finish following a thrilling battle with Rory Butcher and Tom Ingram for the final spot on the rostrum.

"Coming here we knew it wasn't going to be our strongest track, so to come away with three top-five finishes and the lead in the points is fantastic," said Sutton, who will look to extend his lead at Silverstone this weekend.

"We had a bit of luck with Colin having his issue in race one, but we maximised everything that we could to basically get a 26-point swing in the championship.

"It was tough out there – out the back of the circuit in a rear-wheel-drive was certainly lively.

"Going to Silverstone in a few days with maximum ballast won't be ideal, but we have the points in the bag and also I think the car will be a little better suited there than it was here."



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