With Croft's trio of Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship races on the horizon (18/19 September), we're looking back at Rounds 16, 17 and 18 of the 2021 campaign over the next three days!
BTC Racing’s Josh Cook secured a seventh career BTCC victory during Thruxton’s opening race (29 August), as the undisputed king of the Hampshire speedbowl continued his incredible run at the fastest track in the UK.
Starting from third on the grid, Cook immediately weaved his #66 Honda Civic Type R by Jake Hill’s Ford and pole-sitter Dan Rowbottom’s Honda on the run down to the Campbell Corner for the first time.
The move was completed with relative ease and the same can be said for the remainder of the race, as Cook held off MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square’s Hill until the finish.
It was Halfords Racing with Cataclean’s Rowbottom that struggled to maintain his impressive qualifying pace, as he was also relegated further down the order early on by Team BMW’s Tom Oliphant and Toyota Gazoo Racing UK’s Rory Butcher.
The final place in the top five eventually went to championship leader Ash Sutton, who showed hugely impressive pace despite carrying maximum success ballast in the Laser Tools Racing Infiniti.
After a number of eye-catching passes, Sutton hounded Butcher’s Toyota until the finish, before settling for significant championship points ahead of several championship challengers.
Rowbottom had to accept sixth, ahead of Adam Morgan’s Car Gods-backed Ciceley BMW and BTC Racing’s Senna Proctor, whilst the top ten battle kept the huge crowd entertained.
Tom Ingram (Ginsters EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com), Jason Plato (Adrian Flux with Power Maxed Racing) and Colin Turkington (Team BMW) started the penultimate lap nose-to-tail before the hard-fought scrap came to a head at the final chicane.
A brilliant move from Plato in the #11 Vauxhall left Ingram’s Hyundai with nowhere to go, as the BMW of Turkington also nipped by. Ingram responded to get back by Turkington, but Plato was already clear to claim tenth.
ITV's race highlights clip below covers all the action from the 16-lap encounter, while you can see the full result from Round 16 of the 2021 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship here.
