With round nine of the 2025 BTCC season at Silverstone circuit just around the corner, now is a better time than ever to reminisce over Ash Sutton’s miracle drive back in 2023.
Setting the Scene
Sutton’s sensational drive came in race two where he started in 23rd position. Sutton tumbled down the order in race one after a mixed conditions contest saw plenty of drivers make the wrong tyre call. Sutton and title rival at the time Tom Ingram had to pit for wet tyres as rain intensified around Silverstone. This left the pair that were fighting for the title starting race two in 22nd and 23rd place. Meanwhile, Jake Hill took a dominant race one win which fired him back into championship contention. He was favourite to take the win in race two from the front of the pack with seemingly little competition. Sutton and Ingram had it all to do. Battling through the backmarkers whilst worrying about each other too. This race just had all of the blueprints for a Touring Car classic.
Race start
Hill immediately made a great start in his BMW. Gapping the field by seconds on the first lap. Ingram and Sutton were already making progress through the field. But both were hampered by an incident between Jack Butel and Dexter Patterson in their Cupra’s. The contact saw both cars spinning across Brooklands and Ingram having to dive off the track to avoid. This allowed Sutton past the Hyundai.
On lap two, Dan Rowbottom had a dramatic moment as he tried to go around the outside of Adam Morgan’s BMW. Rowbo pulled off an incredible save, giving it a boot full of power to keep him facing the right way. He lost plenty of positions despite his heroics. Meanwhile, Hill and Andrew Watson were creating a good gap between them and the rest of the pack whilst the normal BTCC chaos ensued behind.
Early Progress from Sutton and Ingram
Just four laps into the race, Sutton had already put himself into 15th place whilst Ingram ran in 21st. There was more drama this time through Brooklands as Josh Cook tried a move on Rowbottom which resulted in contact which allowed Michael Crees to make it three wide on the exit of Luffield. Rowbottom came off best in that battle for seventh place.
By lap ten of the race, Sutton had managed to climb up to eighth position. His teammate Rowbottom left the door open for Sutton to continue his charge. With 12 laps left and Sutton already in seventh, a podium didn’t seem unrealistic for the three time champion. Ingram was making steadier progress but he was still up to 13th place with plenty of laps to go. Stephen Jelly and Mikey Doble got tangled up in an incident at Luffield as well. Both took a trip through the gravel trap.
Lap 12 saw Jake Hill’s 2 second gap that he had built being carved into my Aron Taylor-Smith. The Vauxhall Astra was gaining very quickly but Hill’s car was not sounding healthy at all.
On lap 14 the safety car came out due to the amount of debris scattered around the circuit. This bunched the pack back up which could be a nightmare scenario for Hill if he is having troubles in his BMW. But a dream scenario for Ingram and Sutton who are now both in the top 10 and looking to progress.
Green flags for a six lap sprint
Racing got back underway on lap 17 and Aron Taylor-Smith managed to pass Hill for the lead on the inside of Luffield. Things were looking bleak for Jake Hill as he then lost positions to Morgan and Rory Butcher into the Beckets hairpin. It definitely looked like mechanical gremlins for Hill as he then dropped a place to Sutton too who now was in fourth position. Ingram was also taking advantage of the pack being bunched up. He also overtook Hill who was plummeting down the order. Ingram’s next target was Watson for fifth position. Sutton overtook Butcher to put himself onto the podium on lap 21. The Napa driver had made up 20 positions so far and was very close to the leaders.
Lap 22 saw Sutton move himself up to second place and now the race win was very much on the cards for the championship leader. Ingram was still making progress too as he passed Butcher with a dive into Luffied.
Onto the final lap of the race Sutton got a great run through Woodcote and made a brilliant move down the inside of Copse corner on Aron Taylor-Smith to take the lead of the race. Taylor-Smith fought back around the outside of Beckets desperately and then tried the inside line for Brooklands.
Sutton claims improbable victory
But Ash Sutton wasn’t going to let this one slip as he kept the Astra in his wheeltracks and stormed across the line to take one of his best Touring Car wins to date. Ingram followed home one second off the pair in third position with a miracle recovery of his own. Butcher came home in fourth with Morgan behind in fifth, Watson in sixth, Cook in seventh and Colin Turkington also had a recovery drive of his own up to eight place from 26th on the grid. Polesitter Hill had a dismal last lap as his issues got worse throughout the race. He dropped from 12th all the way down to 20th across the line.
It’s very rare that a three time British Touring Car Champion is lost for words after a race. But, along with all of us fans, Ash Sutton was clearly shocked about what he had just pulled off. A nightmare race beforehand turned into pure elation for the NAPA driver as he took his tenth win of the season. One which very much helped him on the way to securing his fourth drivers championship just one meeting later at Brands Hatch. Sutton will be hoping for more results like that this weekend. He trails Ingram by 32 points with just six races to go in the 2025 season. A record breaking fifth title is still on but Sutton has plenty of work to do to catch Ingram.
Main Image credit: Alfie Gendall
The post A Race to Remember – BTCC Silverstone Race Two 2023 appeared first on EverythingF1 – Formula 1 News and Updates.