Race two at Knockhill marked Ash Sutton's third win of the campaign, as the reigning champion bounced back from a trying time at Oulton Park...
Laser Tools Racing’s Sutton secured a famous victory in Round 14 of the 2021 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship at Knockhill, after the 27-year-old slipped past rival Colin Turkington on the final lap.
Turkington – carrying maximum success ballast onboard his BMW 330i M Sport due to his earlier victory – held firm for more than 26 laps of the second bout, but as Sutton’s #1 Infiniti drew closer and closer the Northern Irishman made a minor error on the final tour.
"You live and learn," declared Turkington post-race, admitting to having taken too much kerb through the chicane under intense pressure, which was enough for Sutton to surge through and take the victory.
Sutton’s super success has helped the reigning champion extend his advantage in the Drivers’ standings to 24 points, much to the frustration of the other title protagonists.
“We had a tough task as Colin’s been mega all weekend,” said Sutton. “Pace-wise, we knew we had the upper hand with him having full weight so once we got into second, we just buckled down, fired in those quali laps and picked up that fastest lap bonus point and then started piling the pressure on!
“He came off the kerb a little bit, it looked like it unsettled the car and we just made the most of that opportunity.
“I love racing with someone like Colin. When there’s that mutual respect, you leave each other room, you squeeze each other when it’s right to squeeze each other and I don’t mind racing like that. That’s my style of racing. So fair play to Colin, he did a mega job, but this one’s for Laser Tools Racing.”
MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square’s Jake Hill completed the podium positions after showing impressive pace throughout the race, seeing off the BTC Racing duo of Josh Cook and Senna Proctor as part of his stellar performance.
Cook clung onto fourth ahead of Halfords Racing with Cataclean’s Gordon Shedden, with the latter wowing his fans with a number of eye-catching moves along the way.
Tom Ingram endured a topsy-turvy contest as his Ginsters-backed EXCELR8 Motorsport Hyundai was shuffled down the order at one stage, before the title contender responded brilliantly to secure a top six finish.
Proctor’s Honda Civic Type R faded to seventh, whilst Adrian Flux with Power Maxed Racing’s Jason Plato and Team BMW’s Stephen Jelley battled for eighth.
A special mention for Laser Tools Racing’s Carl Boardley in tenth and EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com’s Jack Butel in 14th – both scoring their best results of the season so far.
