BTCC Thruxton 2023 | 5 talking points | GRR

1. Ash Sutton dominates again

Without wishing to sound like a stuck record, it’s impossible not to start by mentioning just how commanding Ash Sutton has been this season in his NAPA Racing UK Ford Focus. Once again, despite entering the race weekend at the head of the table and thus having the bare minimum hybrid allowance available to him, Sutton duly popped his car into pole position in qualifying, setting himself up for yet another strong Sunday.

And a strong Sunday it was. It was never in doubt that Sutton would take victory in the opening two races of the day, with a pair of lights-to-flag victories that were so comfortable he didn’t even need to use his sole hybrid lap. Even when causing the biggest reverse grid possible for race three (conspiracy theorists at the ready), you felt he’d be able to salvage a half-decent result at the very least. As it ended up, Sutton couldn’t make any progress, having to settle for 12th while championship rival Ingram held on for 10th to chip away slightly at Sutton’s points lead.

Sutton’s immense run of form this season – having won 50% of the races so far including four consecutive wins – is somewhat of a rarity in the modern BTCC. Series organisers pride themselves on their ability to throw up close racing across the field and a handful of drivers mathematically in contention at the final meeting of the season, but at the rate at which Sutton is performing, it’s not outside the realm of possibility that we could be heading into Brands Hatch in October with the championship already wrapped up.

2. Ingram sticks to Sutton's bootlid

The one saving grace for those wanting to preserve the championship battle as long as possible is that Sutton can’t seem to shake off a shadow in the shape of a Hyundai i30 Fastback N Performance with reigning champion Tom Ingram at the wheel. Anything Sutton did, Ingram was there in his mirrors, meaning that, while Sutton is slowly extending his championship lead, those extensions are minimised by the fact he can’t shake off his closest rival. Thanks to a pair of second-place finishes behind Sutton and finishing ahead of the Ford in the reverse grid encounter, the gap between the two now sits at 14 points. Meanwhile, Team BMW’s Colin Turkington sits in third, but he’s already 41 points back from Sutton, and when you consider that you can score a maximum of 67 across a weekend, it shows just how much the top two are romping away at this early stage.

Ingram admitted after race one that all he can do is follow Sutton around and, while he’s not happy about it, waiting for a mistake from the Ford is the best plan he has in the current circumstances. Unfortunately for Ingram, waiting for the NAPA team to slip up seems like a fool's errand. You can’t look past the blue and yellow squad, whose four-strong outfit challenges for victory at every opportunity, taking a clean sweep across all three races this weekend. On this occasion, it was Rowbottom who hounded the BMW of Adam Morgan in the third and final race of the day. The two had been drawn on the front row by virtue of the reverse grid, and while the early stages looked like Morgan may be able to control the race, Rowbottom reeled him in, taking the lead in a daring move at Church, the fastest corner in the country. The resulting victory would be Rowbottom’s first since Oulton Park in 2021, and his first with the NAPA team.

3. Josh Cook fights back

He may have had to yield his ‘King of Thruxton’ crown to Ash Sutton this weekend, but One Motorsport’s Josh Cook would have been happy with his performances nonetheless. Despite finishing in the top ten in seven out of nine races ahead of the trip to Hampshire, the Honda Civic Type-R has struggled to live up to its previous championship-winning legacy and Cook languished down in ninth, 77 points back from the championship leader. Going into Thruxton, questions were asked whether Cook would be able to live up to his own lofty reputation, having won more races around the fastest circuit in the UK than any other driver.

By Saturday afternoon, those questions had been well and truly answered, as Cook topped both free practice sessions. He had no answer to the white-hot form of Ash Sutton in qualifying, but a third-place finish in the opening race of Sunday was a welcome return to the podium for the 2015 Jack Sears Trophy champion. His double podium lifted him up to seventh in the standings, but he slipped a further 11 points back from the top, now 88 points away from Sutton.

4. Power Maxed find some pace

Save for an outstanding debut from Andrew Watson at the opening race of the year (and a lucky fifth from Mikey Doble in the madness of the second), the Vauxhall Astras of Power Maxed Racing have struggled to get off the mark this season. Of the trio, only Aron Taylor-Smith has regularly been able to finish in the points-paying positions, but even then it was only in the lower half. Come Saturday afternoon, the Power Maxed squad had all three of its drivers in the top eight by the end of qualifying.

Unfortunately for Watson, his Sunday was all but over before it had even begun. Suffering a mechanical issue on the way to the grid for race one, the Northern Irishman only made it back out of the pits while the rest of the grid was racing away to Campbell, Cobb and Segrave on the opening lap of the race. A recovery drive in the ensuing three races resulted in Watson salvaging points in race three. Taylor-Smith managed to make the most of his day, with three top-ten results bringing home a strong points haul, while Mikey Doble also managed to take a trio of points finishes, despite gradually slipping down the order as the day progressed.

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.

Images courtesy of Motorsport Images