Ashley Sutton claims seventh podium of season at Snetterton to extend Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship summit to 10 points

Ashley Sutton claimed his seventh podium finish of the season at Snetterton to extend his lead at the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship summit to 10 points.

The Bishop’s Stortford driver, 30, came third in the opening race as he equalled the record for consecutive top-three finishes that was set by Mat Jackson back in 2009.

In what proved to be an up-and-down weekend, the NAPA Racing UK competitor then came 20th and fifth in Norfolk.

Arriving at the 2.97-mile circuit sitting at the top of the standings after claiming six podium finishes from the opening six races, the reigning champion headed into Saturday’s qualifying session somewhat on the back foot with just a single second of hybrid deployment available to him.

But the former Birchwood High School student grabbed his Ford Focus ST by the metaphoric scruff of the neck to haul himself up to second place and secure a spot on the front row of the grid.

Sutton enjoyed a relatively untroubled drive in race one as he powered his way to a seventh podium finish in a row.

Holding firm behind race leader Jake Hill during the early going of the bout, the front-wheel-drive racer dropped back to third place at mid-distance after a brief battle with the BMW of Bobby Thompson.

Sutton’s podium streak came to an end in the second race as the four-time title winner saw his gamble to run slick tyres ultimately not pay off after the circuit had been hit by a brief but heavy thunderstorm.

With standing water causing a delay in proceedings, bright sunshine soon filled the skies and, with a dry line developing, Sutton rolled the dice to pit at the end of the green flag lap to switch from wet to dry tyres.

Forced to run the hard Goodyear compound, he valiantly fought inside the points positions early on before his chances of a strong result were extinguished when the rain returned.

Tasked with starting race three at the back of the grid on the medium tyre, Sutton was a man on a mission in the finale as he carved his way up the order, despite having to battle the ill effects of fumes filling his cockpit after sustaining contact to his exhaust in the early exchanges.

Getting his head down, he showed his fighting spirit with a number of bold overtakes on his way to fifth place.

“That was a bit of a rollercoaster weekend, both in terms of the racing and the weather, so to have come away with another podium and having extended the championship lead is mega,” said Sutton.

“We knew that we were going to be up against it in terms of hybrid deployment, but we managed to maximise absolutely everything to stick it on the front row for race one. To convert that into a seventh consecutive podium was pretty special.

“[In] race two we took a gamble on switching to slicks and I really thought that, given how quickly the track was drying, we’d made the right decision. That wasn’t to be the case when the heavens decided to open again.

“Race three wasn’t much fun if I’m honest, despite us getting all the way up to fifth. We had contact on the rear passenger door and exhaust early on, which then meant that for the rest of the race I had fumes pumping into the cockpit. To get to fifth was some achievement!”

Sutton and the chasing pack head to Thruxton, the fastest circuit on the calendar, for rounds 10, 11 and 12 on the weekend of June 8-9.