5. NAPA Fords extend lead, but points still close
It should come as no surprise that, following a perfect trio of victories, the NAPA Racing UK squad has consolidated its lead at the top of both the Manufacturers’ and Teams’ points tables. What may be surprising, however, is that those leads may not be as big as you’d think.
In the Manufacturers’ standings, Ford only holds a nine-point lead over BMW, which itself is tripled from the three it held after Snetterton, whilst things are a little more comfortable in the Teams’ standings as NAPA Racing UK sits 57 points clear of Team BMW – remember Jake Hill scores points for Laser Tools Racing as opposed to Team BMW.
As we’ve already mentioned, whilst Sutton is grabbing the headlines with his six wins in 12 starts, Tom Ingram is never too far behind, and as a result, the gap at the top of the Drivers’ table is only 14 points. There’s a more significant jump to Turkington in third, who sits 41 points behind Sutton, and Jake Hill rounds out the top four a further 12 points back.
A difficult day in the office for the fourth NAPA Ford of Sam Osborne means he now sits five points behind Team HARD’s Dexter Patterson in the Jack Sears Trophy standings, a position swap from Snetterton, with Mikey Doble in third, seven points shy of Osborne.
The first half of the 2023 season concludes in two weeks' time at the ever-popular Oulton Park meeting, as everyone desperately searches for a way to stop the blue and yellow bullet that is Ash Sutton.
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