If Ash Sutton claims a record-breaking fifth British Touring Car Championship title this October, he may well look back on a weekend in June when he outscored main rival Tom Ingram because his pace was so inferior as key to that success.
That may sound paradoxical, but it’s absolutely true. Scarcely in the NGTC era has any driver-car combination been so dominant as Ingram and his Excelr8 Motorsport Hyundai i30 N Fastback were at Oulton Park. Sutton, by contrast, was in the ‘there or thereabouts’ league with his Alliance Racing-run NAPA Ford Focus ST, which allowed him to pull a fast one in the opening race to drop off the podium, sail to victory in race two because he could use the soft Goodyear tyres again, and then avoid using the hard compound altogether because the forecasted rain arrived in time for the finale.
