Ash Sutton, against the odds, triumphs in the ‘Race to Pole’ as the BTCC’s new qualifying format delivers a brilliant spectacle once again. Favourable conditions for drivers with the sun beating down onto the Brands Hatch Circuit.
Qualifying Group 1: Ingram takes full advantage of full boost allocation
The first qualifying group got underway with championship leader Ash Sutton, practice topper Daryl DeLeon and Tom Ingram the big names in this group. There was plenty of change on the timing screens as the drivers got their tyres up to the optimum temperature. Sutton set a very impressive early benchmark with his minimal amount of turbo boost but Ingram quickly responded. Ingram kept taking chunks out of his laptime, making use of his 20 seconds of turbo boost per lap. He set a 47.310 and was out of his Hyundai to watch the final three minutes of the session.
Daryl DeLeon was the closest contender to Ingram’s time. Right at the end of the session, DeLeon popped in a time just a tenth adrift from Ingram’s best effort which put him second. Sutton managed to retain a brilliant third place with his minimal boost.
Tom Ingram, Team Vertu Driver: “We’ve got full boost so the car feels fantastic. We didn’t have the best weekend at Donington but we are confident we can claw back some of the points we lost with the advantage of extra boost.”
Group 1 Result:
1. Tom Ingram: 47.310 2. Daryl DeLeon 3. Ash Sutton 4. Mikey Doble 5. Tom Chilton 6. Josh Cook 7. Sam Osbourne 8. Lewis Selby 9. Chris Smiley 10. Aiden Moffat 11. James Dorlin
Qualifying Group 2: Cammish controlls Group 2
After the regular tyre warming and crossing, we started to see competative laptimes with 10 minutes remaining. Dan Cammish made his mark early on, setting a 47.7 early on which was matched by Plato Racing’s Adam Morgan. The pair bothed improved their times down to a 47.5 with Ricky Collard also matching them. Collard jumped past Adam Morgan with five minutes to go in the session.
With five minutes remaining, drivers came in for new front tyres which helped them improve right at the end of the session. Dexter Patterson shot up to the top of the timings but Cammish quickly reclaimed top spot with a 47.410. Ricky Collard’s final effort was good enough to reclaim second position with Adam Morgan staying behind him in third. It was an extremely tight session with the top four all covered by one tenth of a second.
Cammish couldn’t beat Ingram’s Group One topping time so that means Ingram and the drivers in his group will start the ‘Race to Pole’ in the odd numbered grid positions.
Group 2 Result:
1. Dan Cammish: 47.410 2. Ricky Collard 3. Adam Morgan 4. Dexter Patterson 5. Charles Rainford 6. Aron Taylor-Smith 7. Gordon Shedden 8. Max Buxton 9. Dan Rowbottom 10. Nicholas Hamilton
The ‘Race to Pole’
Polesitter Tom Ingram got off to a strong start but it was third place driver Daryl DeLeon that challanged him into turn one. DeLeon launched his BMW around the outside of Paddock Hill Bend but couldn’t secure the position from Ingram. The battle raged on to Druids with DeLeon trying his luck again around the outside. He got a brilliant run down to Graham Hill Bend and lunged his BMW down the inside of Ingram with the pair making contact. Ingram came off worse, picking up a bit of damage and dropping back to fifth place.
Ash Sutton was the big benificiary from the contact as he slipped through from third to first. Sutton still had plenty of work to do though as he had the mighty fast DeLeon behind him with lots of boost to play with. DeLeon really closed the gap on lap four and was just a few tenths from Sutton’s Ford Focus Saloon.
By lap seven, Ingram was still stuck in fifth position behind his teammate Ricky Collard and Dan Cammish. It now started to seem that Ingram had lost some of his pace advantage as he couldn’t make major inroads on the pair infront of him. Concerning signs for the reigning champion.
There was plenty of battles throughout the pack. Charles Rainford and Dan Rowbottom came to blows multiple times in a race for 18th spot at the time. And Josh Cook spent most of his race dueling with the Laser Tools Toyota Corolla’s of Gordon Shedden and Aron Taylor-Smith. He passed the pair but fell to the back with a front left puncture on lap 17.
Sutton survives DeLeon’s challange
The top five stayed as they were until the chequered flag as a delighted Ash Sutton claimed what seemed like an unlikely victory. He will start race one on Sunday from pole position and look to build upon his two wins so far this season. DeLeon came home in second place with Cammish making it two NAPA Ford’s in the top three.
Ash Sutton, NAPA Racing Ford: “We got a perfect getaway off the line and I managed to take advantage of Daryl (DeLeon) and Tom (Ingram) making contact. From then on it was just 18 qualifying laps and pushing as hard as I could until the end. The car is in an amazing place and I’m in an amazing place with it too”
Dan Cammish, NAPA Racing Ford: “I’m happy with third place. We got a good start but DeLeon and Ash (Sutton) got a better one. We’re in a good place for race one tommorow. We aren’t quite on the pace of Ingram and Sutton yet but we are bridging the gap so we need to get our strategy right tommorow.”
The finishing order from the Race to Pole and the grid for Race One
- Ash Sutton
- Daryl DeLeon
- Dan Cammish
- Ricky Collard
- Tom Ingram
- Adam Morgan
- Mikey Doble
- Dexter Patterson
- Aron Taylor Smith
- Gordon Shedden
- Sam Osbourne
- James Dorlin
- Lewis Selby
- Chris Smiley
- Tom Chilton
- Charles Rainford
- Aiden Moffat
- Dan Rowbottom
- Max Buxton
- Nicholas Hamilton
- Josh Cook
