Charles Rainford charges to BTCC Race to Pole win at Snetterton

Charles Rainford won the British Touring Car Championship Race to Pole at Snetterton, scoring his best Saturday result of the season.

Championship leader Ashley Sutton failed to finish, with Brands Hatch hero Árón Taylor-Smith also joining him down the order.

It was Tom Chilton who led the field away after the timed session, having scored his best result of the season.

Tom Chilton turns his form by going fastest in timed qualifying

Tom Chilton topped the charts in the traditional timed session, with a time of 1:55.194 put him at the front of the pack for the Race to Pole.

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Throughout both parts of the session, multiple drivers found themselves the wrong side of Snetterton’s tight track limits.

Chilton notched a strong lap in Group 1 to put himself nearly three tenths clear of his group. His 1:55.194 put him ahead of Josh Cook, with Dan Cammish behind. 

The Plato pair of Dan Rowbottom and Adam Morgan found themselves just behind, while Chris Smiley, Ricky Collard, and Max Buxton struggled to the back of the charts. 

Charles Rainford led the remaining 11 in Group 2. His effort of 1:55.419 vanquished Tom Ingram by less than a tenth, as James Dorlin jumped ahead of Ashley Sutton at the last.

With issues forcing limited running in Free Practice, Árón Taylor-Smith couldn’t navigate his Corolla away from the back of the pack after his heroics at Brands Hatch.

Charles Rainford surges to victory in the Race to Pole

Nicolas Hamilton suffered an issue with his Team VERTU Hyundai at the end of the formation lap, but recovered after a brief standstill to the back of the grid.

Tom Chilton made the perfect start by holding off Charles Rainford’s BMW through Wilson, after Rainford challenged around the outside.

However, Rainford pushed Chilton wide at Oggies, with the Hyundai man falling multiple places to P6 by the end of the first lap.

Ashley Sutton started exceptionally, climbing to P3 by the end of the starting lap, with Tom Ingram joining just behind.

Chilton’s day got worse by the second lap, with the stewards awarding him a five-second penalty for an out of position start.

At the other end of the field, Lewis Selby was turned sideways by Mikey Doble as they battled towards the back.

Putting an end to his excellent start, Sutton cut the inside at Murrays and peeled into the pits for repairs, suffering a puncture. Joining him in the pits with an issue was Árón Taylor-Smith, who had only gone backwards since the start.

A few laps later, Sutton peeled into the pits to retire from the race to protect his car after running in P20.

Despite plenty predicting the Corolla would struggle at Snetterton, Josh Cook continued well in P2 with a gap to Ingram in third. Rainford was also running in clean air, with a near two-second gap to the Toyota by the end of lap six.

As the field entered its final lap, anyone-but-Chilton would describe the running as peaceful. Rainford took the chequered flag under no challenge, with Ingram and Dan Cammish behind.

Dan Rowbottom had a strong drive to finish in fifth, with Daryl De Leon climbing to P6. Adam Morgan followed, with Chilton, James Dorlin, and Sam Osborne rounding out the top 10.

Aiden Moffat retired on the last lap with a technical issue, casting a frustrated figure as he climbed over the barrier. Taylor-Smith was the last classified driver, although a lap down.