Ashley Sutton has admitted his fortune in being handed the lead of the British Touring Car Championship Qualifying Race at Brands Hatch, but needed no fortune in running away from the field.
The NAPA Racing driver put his car fifth on the grid for Saturday’s Race to Pole, despite only having one second of boost per lap allocated to him.
A collision between pole-sitter Tom Ingram and Daryl De Leon did benefit Sutton’s race, but he delivered a strong drive to hold the lead throughout the 18 laps.
Sutton put his Ford Focus in an excellent position at the start of the race by jumping into third after Paddock Hill Bend. Contact between Ingram and De Leon then saw the seas part for Sutton to swoop through at the exit of Graham Hill Bend.
From there, the Briton’s victory seemed academic. Ending the race a second-and-a-half ahead of De Leon, he seemed under no real pressure and delivered the calm drive his position required.
“I mean, I had a little bit of luck, don’t get me wrong,” he admitted to BTCC media.
“Obviously we had a fantastic start, got away cleanly off the line, got Ricky, got Dan into Turn 1
“And then, yeah, the heavens kind of opened for me on the exit of Turn 3, so I made the most of that.
“And sort of from that point onwards, I just had to go straight back to almost a qualifying mode, I got clear air in front of me, clean track, go and bang out 18 qualifying laps.”
Ashley Sutton is ‘in tune’ with his NAPA Racing Ford Focus
Sutton has enjoyed a fantastic start to his 2026 BTCC campaign, winning twice and finishing second once at Donington.
He does have a habit of excellent opening weekends, enjoying similar success in 2025 and 2024.
Despite the clear positives of his recent seasons, the Briton feels that his 2026 chariot is one that he’s most in tune with.
“I’ve got a good car under me, I’m trying to maximise it, I’m doing everything I can in that respect.
“I feel in tune with the car, I haven’t felt that for the past couple of years.”
Sutton added that he was also over the moon to “overcome” the boost restrictions placed upon him by his sensational start to the season.
Discussion about this post