Ashley Sutton closes in on record-equalling fourth British Touring Car Championship title with 10th win of the season at Silverstone

Ashley Sutton will take a 45-point lead into the final weekend of the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship as he bids to claim a record-equalling fourth title.

The Bishop’s Stortford driver, who competes for NAPA Racing UK, secured his 10th win of the campaign in race two at Silverstone on Sunday (September 24).

And the former Birchwood High School student, who came 23rd in the opening race and third in the reverse-grid encounter, is delighted to be in a commanding position going into the last race day at Brands Hatch on the weekend of October 7-8.

“It’s been a real rollercoaster of a weekend, but I’m over the moon to be coming out the other side of it with a 45-point lead,” said Sutton, whose nearest rival is defending champion Tom Ingram and the only other competitor still in mathematical contention. “Coming into Silverstone I had a number in mind that I wanted to leave with and it’s fair to say we’ve exceeded that.

“There are less than two weeks to go now until Brands, so we’ll do our homework like always and see what happens.

“Surviving race one and scoring points is the target, then we’ll see how the day plays out from there. We’re in a really strong position, but the job is by no means done.”

Sutton, 29, clinched fifth in qualifying, but race one proved to be a case of what might have been for the front-wheel-drive ace in drizzly conditions. Like the majority of those around him, he opted to stick with slick tyres and was forced to bolt on wets as conditions deteriorated, ending the contest back in 23rd.

But he then produced one of his best BTCC performances as he charged up the field in his Ford Focus ST to win the second race, making the decisive move for the lead on the penultimate tour.

Drawing number 12 for the reverse-grid contest, Sutton concluded his weekend with another remarkable drive as he clinched third place behind Colin Turkington and Ingram.

“In hindsight we made the wrong call in race one as we should have switched to wets on the grid, but we were focused on shadowing Tom [Ingram],” said Sutton. “After race one we had our backs up against the wall, but we certainly turned it around

“Race two is up there as one of my best-ever drives in the BTCC. We maximised having a full allocation of hybrid and just got cracking on working our way through the field.

“The car felt incredible and I was able to just put it wherever I wanted. That one was very special.”