Laser Tools Racing's Ash Sutton secured a famous victory in Round 14 of the 2021 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship at Knockhill, after the reigning champion 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 have 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.
The pair will duel it out again later today, as Jelley was chosen at random in the reverse-grid draw and will line-up alongside Plato on the front row for the final race.
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.
Round 15 of the 2021 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship will take place at 1725 and will be screened live on ITV4.
2021 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Race 2 – Knockhill
1 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Laser Tools Racing 27 laps
2 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +1.043s
3 Jake HILL (GBR) MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square +1.770s
4 Josh COOK (GBR) BTC Racing +2.258s
5 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Racing with Cataclean +2.672s
6 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Ginsters EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com +3.202s
7 Senna PROCTOR(GBR) BTC Racing +4.427s
8 Jason PLATO (GBR) Adrian Flux with Power Maxed Racing +4.829s
9 Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team BMW +5.068s
10 Carl BOARDLEY (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +5.656s
11 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +8.393s
12 Jack GOFF (GBR) Team HARD. with Autobrite Direct +8.714s
13 Chris SMILEY (GBR) Ginsters EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com +9.246s
14 Jack BUTEL (GBR) EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com +10.003s
15 Árón TAYLOR-SMITH (IRL) Team HARD. with HUB Financial Solutions +13.090s
16 Adam MORGAN (GBR) Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport +13.197s
17 Tom OLIPHANT (GBR) Team BMW +13.503s
18 Daniel ROWBOTTOM (GBR) Halfords Racing with Cataclean +14.535s
19 Paul RIVETT (GBR) Racing with Wera & Photon Group +14.825s
20 Sam OSBORNE (GBR) Racing with Wera & Photon Group +14.862s
21 Jack MITCHELL (GBR) Team HARD. with Autobrite Direct +15.386s
22 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square +16.649s
23 Jade EDWARDS (GBR) PHSC with BTC Racing +18.008s
24 Sam SMELT (GBR) Toyota Gazoo Racing UK +18.188s
25 Tom CHILTON (GBR) Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport +18.401s
26 Daniel LLOYD (GBR) Adrian Flux with Power Maxed Racing +19.010s
27 Rick PARFITT (GBR) EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com +1 lap
28 Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Toyota Gazoo Racing UK +6 laps
29 Nicolas HAMILTON (GBR) ROKiT Racing with iQuoto Online Trading +27 laps
More to follow...
