Ashley Sutton claimed victory in the second Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship race at Oulton Park having produced yet another fantastic drive for Adrian Flux Subaru Racing.
Andrew Jordan maintained the lead from pole position off the line, whilst fellow front row starter Matt Neal was gobbled up by the rear-wheel drive machines of Sutton and Rob Collard.
Jordan’s BMW – carrying maximum success ballast following his race one win – couldn’t hang on for particularly long, however, as Sutton slid his Subaru down the inside at Island Hairpin before completing the pass at Hislops on lap two. Sutton immediately stormed away from the chasing pack as a bottle-neck gathered behind Jordan’s 125i M Sport.
Collard comfortably disposed of his BMW stablemate Jordan, before the latter was impressively tag-teamed by the two Hondas of Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden. Neal edged inside of Jordan across the start/finish line as Shedden went around the outside into Old Hall Corner – creating a three-wide Honda sandwich. When the dust settled it was Neal in second with team-mate Shedden also getting past Jordan.
Pirtek-backed Jordan held on to fifth until the finish as the two Fords of Josh Cook and Mat Jackson squabbled behind. Cook got by Jackson when the Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo man straight-lined the chicane, and the former was further rewarded post-race by being selected for pole position in the reverse grid race three later today.
Rob Austin and Jake Hill continued their weekend-long scrap in eighth and ninth respectively, whilst the VW of Michael Epps completed the top ten.
Shedden has taken over at the top of the standings after Tom Ingram’s woes worsened with another DNF in race two. The Speedworks driver is now joint-second – alongside Collard – just five points off the summit.
All credit in this contest though went to Sutton as the young gun scored his first win for Subaru and the second of his BTCC career.
“That couldn’t have gone any better!” he said. “After seeing the performance of the soft tyres in race one, I didn’t feel too confident, especially with an extra 57kg having been thrown at me but I got a great start and then the pace was just in the car. I had to get away as quickly as I could because we all know Rob Collard’s a charger and he was going to be coming after me, but I made the break just in time.
“It was then a question of managing the race, and it’s phenomenal to score the first win of the year for Adrian Flux Subaru Racing. We had a bit of a difficult start to the season, so this one is for all the boys – they’ve done a mega job to get the car to where it is now.”
2017 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Round 11 – Oulton Park
1 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing 14 laps
2 Rob COLLARD (GBR) Team BMW +1.066s
3 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +9.795s
4 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +10.096s
5 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) BMW Pirtek Racing +10.443s
6 Josh COOK (GBR) Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport +10.863s
7 Mat JACKSON (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +12.560s
8 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) Handy Motorsport +13.196s
9 Jake HILL (GBR) TAG Racing +13.966s
10 Michael EPPS (GBR) Autoaid/RCIB Insurance Racing +14.596s
11 Jason PLATO (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +14.765s
12 Aron TAYLOR-SMITH (IRL) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +15.943s
13 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +21.590s
14 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +22.040s
15 Josh PRICE (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +22.195s
16 Jack GOFF (GBR) Eurotech Racing +22.607s
17 Luke DAVENPORT (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +22.968s
18 Senna PROCTOR (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +23.309s
19 Dave NEWSHAM (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +24.547s
20 Martin DEPPER (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +25.174s
21 Jeff SMITH (GBR) Eurotech Racing +25.481s
22 Daniel LLOYD (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +25.678s
23 Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport +26.711s
24 Tom CHILTON (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +27.018s
25 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Simpson Racing +27.814s
26 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts +28.249s
27 Chris SMILEY (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +30.618s
28 Ant WHORTON-EALES (GBR) AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts +1 lap
29 Will BURNS (GBR) Autoaid/RCIB Insurance Racing +2 laps
DNF Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +7 laps
DNF James COLE (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +8 laps
DNF Adam MORGAN (GBR) Ciceley Motorsport
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