Rowbottom, Sutton leave Thruxton with strong BTCC points haul

The British Touring Car Championship season continued at Thruxton on Sunday, with Tom Ingram, Ash Sutton, and Dan Rowbottom sharing the wins across the day.

In contrast to qualifying on Saturday, which took place in rain, all three races took place in sunny conditions. Different to all other events on the BTCC schedule, owing to Thruxton’s high-speed and abrasive nature, hard tires were mandated for all runners in every race, removing the soft tire variable seen at every other track.

During the day's first race, Team Vertu Hyundai driver Ingram got by the NAPA Racing UK Ford Focus ST of Sutton at the end of the first lap after tailing him from the start, but had to cede the position as the move was made as the safety car came out for a collision between Max Hall and Sam Osborne.

When the race resumed on lap eight, Ingram again made a move at the final chicane and took the place despite the two making contact and venturing off course. Dan Cammish, who'd made a slow start from third on the grid, rallied back to retake third at the end of that eighth lap by getting by Motor Parts Direct with Power Maxed Racing’s Mikey Doble. 

Meanwhile, Josh Cook – the so-called 'King of Thruxton' with a record 10 wins at the track – had been carving his way through the field. 

After starting 14th on the grid and his One Motorsport team grafting an entire new front end onto his Honda Civic Type-R overnight following a crash in qualifying, Cook set the fastest lap on lap 10, then moved into the top five three laps later by disposing of Rowbottom on the approach to the final chicane. 

He took fourth off Doble a lap later, then on lap 18 he moved up the inside of Sutton – who'd been battling with a loss of power toward the end of the race and had already ceded second to teammate Cammish – for third.

Ingram was untroubled at the front in the final laps, going on to take his first win of the season ahead of Cammish and Cook, while Sutton held on for fifth ahead of Rowbottom, Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport’s Jake Hill, Toyota Gazoo Racing UK’s James Dorlin, and Tem Vertu’s Adam Morgan and Senna Proctor. 

Darryl DeLeon, Chris Smiley, Aron Taylor-Smith, Dan Lloyd, Aiden Moffat and Tom Chilton – who’d finished 10th on the road but received a 10s penalty for track limits violations – completed the points scorers.

After spending the first 15 laps of the race in the top-five, Doble retired with engine issues.

RACE 1 RESULTS

In race two, Sutton made a phenomenal start from the second row of the grid to lead into the first corner, and by the end of the first lap he already held a 1.8s lead over Ingram. 

By lap two he'd broken the lap record, bettering Cook's fastest lap from the first race by a second in the process. 

Ultimately, Sutton ended up winning by 3.875s over Ingram in what was an utterly dominant display where he didn’t even use two of the four TOCA Turbo Boost (TTB) uses available. The win was Sutton’s third of the year, and 45th of his career.

Cook once again finished third, but was later disqualified for failing the ride height check after sustaining splitter damage. That allowed Rowbottom to inherit third after a race-long battle with Hill.

Rowbottom first found his way past Hill at the first chicane on lap seven, but the BMW driver regained the position a lap later after Rowbottom had a moment at Goodwood due to oil that had been put down by Doble who retired with another engine issue. 

On lap 11, Rowbottom retook the position once more, slipping up the inside of the final chicane, but while that battle had been raging, Cammish – who was recovering from another poor start where he dropped from second on the grid to seventh on the opening lap – had closed up to both, thanks to having TTB uses available unlike Robottom and Hill.

He first attempted a move on Hill at Noble on lap 13, but had to wait two more laps to finally get by. By that point, Rowbottom had taken off.

Hill finished fifth, ahead of Proctor, Dorlin, Smiley – who inherited the Independents win after Cook's disqualification – DeLeon, Lloyd, Charles Rainford, and Adam Morgan who, like his Team Vertu teammate Chilton in race one, received a penalty for track limits violations, dropping him from eighth to 12th. Aiden Moffat, Ronan Pearson, and Dexter Patterson rounded out the scorers.

RACE 2 RESULTS

Dorlin was drawn in pole position for the final race of the day with Proctor – who would have had pole if Cook hadn't been disqualified from race two – alongside him on the front row. 

Once again it was a second row starter, this time Hill from third, who led into Turn 1, making perfect use of his BMW's rear-wheel drive to get away well.  Rowbottom also made a good start from fifth on the grid and was able to get by Hill for the lead at Seagrave on lap two. 

After challenging on the first lap, Cammish moved by Dorlin for third at the start of lap two, with Ingram and Sutton following through shortly after as Dorlin slowed, then retired, with a mechanical issue. That allowed Cammish to set about challenging Hill for second as Rowbottom controlled the race out in front. 

Behind them, Sutton broke the lap record again on lap three, then passed Ingram for fourth. 

A safety car on lap eight after Morgan crashed at the first turn bunched the lead pack up again, and when the race resumed on lap 11, Cammish quickly found his way past Hill, leaving the reigning champion in the clutches of Sutton. 

A lap later Sutton edged past Hill on the exit of Seagrave, but a slide for Hill at Noble led to him clipping Sutton, sending him into a spin. Sutton was able to quickly recover, while Hill pitted to clear grass from his radiator. 

Cammish already expended his TTB, thus couldn't challenge Rowbottom for the lead, while Ingram still had uses left, so was able to pass Cammish for second on the approach to the final chicane on the penultimate lap of the race, which was extended to 18 laps after the safety car period. 

The win was Rowbottom's second of the season after race two at Snetterton, making him only the second repeat winner of the season alongside teammate Sutton. It was also his fourth career win, and second at Thruxton after his race three triumph at the track in 2023.

Ingram finished second, 2.260s back, with Cammish third. Proctor, who dropped down to seventh from second on the grid, recovered to fourth, while Sutton also mounted a recovery drive to net fifth, after dropping back following his clash with Hill. 
Smiley took sixth and with it another Independents win, with Taylor-Smith seventh and Cook charging from the back of the grid to finish eighth – at the expense of Lloyd who took eighth at the flag, but dropped to 10th, behind Chilton, after receiving a 5s penalty for a false start. 

Gordon Shedden, Sam Osborne, Moffat, and Doble – another driver to come from the back, finishing seventh initially but dropped back because of a track limits penalty – completed the top-15 and the scorers.

RACE 3 RESULTS

Sutton leaves Thruxton with a nine-point lead over Ingram in the Drivers' standings, with Rowbottom moving up to third, albeit 40 points back. Cammish sits fourth to put three of the four NAPA Ford drivers in the top four, with Hill fifth.

The BTCC season continues on June 21-22 at Oulton Park, with qualifying streamed live on YouTube and all three races shown on RACER Network.