Reigning champion Ashley Sutton ended Snetterton's summer round of the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship in fine style with a commanding race three victory on the 300 circuit this afternoon.
Sutton started from pole position after being selected in the pre-race reverse grid draw, but the opening stages were anything but simple for the three-time title winner. Behind the wheel of his NAPA Racing UK Ford Focus, he was beaten into Riches by a fast starting Daniel Rowbottom, who assumed what appeared to be an early lead.
Never one to give up, Sutton placed his car perfectly as the field negotiated the infield section at Agostini and worked his way back in front of the Honda driver. Jason Plato followed him through with an opportunistic move and set abut chasing the leader, but Sutton quickly started to break clear.
From there Sutton put in a commanding performance to lead home to the chequered flag, whilst Plato celebrated his 650th start in the BTCC by returning to the rostrum for the first time in over a year. It was a crowd-pleasing moment for the series icon who was contesting his final tin top race at the venue where he first became a BTCC race winner all the way back in 1997.
Behind the leading duo there was plenty of drama on a warm afternoon at the Norfolk circuit, with the battle for the final podium position going right down to the final lap. Ricky Collard ultimately secured the final place on the rostrum and his best result of the season to date, but he so nearly missed out after a late move at Hamilton from Ingram. Collard in the Toyota refused to cede his place on the rostrum though, and regained the position just moments later, leaving Ingram to finish in fourth.
Next up were Jake Hill and Colin Turkington, but in the opposite order to which they'd run earlier in the day. Hill's ROKiT MB Motorsport BMW 330e fought through a tight pack to secure fifth, one place ahead of four-time champion Turkington. Northern Ireland's Turkington leaves Snetterton having extended his championship lead after his double victory earlier in the day.
Rory Butcher finished seventh after an eventful run to the line in which he'd made contact with Stephen Jelley early on - an incident which dropped the BMW driver out of contention at Nelson whilst Butcher's Toyota continued to the finish in the top-10.
Adam Morgan and Ollie Jackon occupied eighth and ninth in the final order ahead of Rowbottom, who wound up 10th after his promising start to the race.
Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship, Snetterton, Race 3, Result
1. Ashley Sutton, NAPA Racing UK, Ford Focus ST, 12
laps
2. Jason Plato, Rich Energy BTC Racing, Honda Civic Type R,
+4.556s
3. Ricky Collard, Toyota Gazoo Racing UK, Toyota Corolla,
+6.475s
4. Tom Ingram, Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8, Hyundai
i30N, +7.263s
5. Jake Hill, ROKiT MB Motorsport, BMW 330e M Sport,
+8.677s
6. Colin Turkington, Team BMW, BMW 330e M Sport,
+9.074s
7. Rory Butcher, Toyota Gazoo Racing UK, Toyota Corolla,
+12.094s
8. Adam Morgan, Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport, BMW 330e M
Sport, +12.344s
9. Ollie Jackson, Apec Racing with Beavis Morgan, Ford Focus ST,
+15.263s
10. Daniel Rowbottom, Halfords Racing with Cataclean, Honda
Civic Type R, +15.551s
For full timings and results from this weekend's event, please click here.