BTCC: Hill leaves turbulent Thruxton as series leader

May 9, 2021 May 9, 2021

After an extra month’s delay due to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, the opening round of the 2021 British Touring Car season finally got under way.

The venue was Thruxton in Hampshire, renowned for its fast and flowing layout. It was the first time the circuit had held the inaugural event since 2010.

Ash Sutton entered the weekend as the reigning champion, with rivals Colin Turkington, Tom Ingram and the returning Gordon Shedden hoping to dethrone the 27-year-old.

Race 1:

It was a sodden Saturday that greeted this year’s BTCC cohort, with Sutton planting his Infiniti Q50 on pole as the track dried towards the end of the session. Despite holding the lead from launch, Sutton was tagged by Turkington at the Complex and spun. Drama ensued behind as Shedden collected Chris Smiley, both finding the tyre barrier at Noble.

Once the green flag emerged, Josh Cook inherited Sutton’s lead with Ingram slotting behind. By lap 10, the BTC Racing Honda Civic had opened up a slight lead on the tailing Hyundai i30N, picking up fastest lap in the process.

One of the highlights of the race occurred three laps later, as Rory Butcher and Jason Plato squabbled at the Complex. After the Scot regained his spot, guest-star Dan Cammish planted his tourer ahead of them both for P5.

By the end of the extended race, Cook eased home to take the first victory of 2021 as Ingram collected silver honours in his maiden outing for EXCELR8 Trade Price Cars. Jake Hill and MB Motorsport rounded out the podium. Post-race, Turkington was handed a 17-second time penalty for his incident with Sutton, demoting him to 10th.

After the race, Cook said:

“I’m really, really chuffed for the whole of BTC Racing; we’ve had a tough winter, but a good start to the year. We’ve just got to keep the ball rolling. We need to be in this position at the end of the year. So we’ve got to get our heads down!”

Race 1’s Top 10:

Josh Cook
Tom Ingram
Jake Hill
Dan Cammish
Rory Butcher
Jason Plato
Daniel Rowbottom
Adam Morgan
Ash Sutton
Colin Turkington

Race 2:

The second event of the day started with a sizeable crash – Andy Neate questionably missed his breaking marker at Turn 1 and ploughed into Glynn Geddie’s brand new Cupra Leon. The Team HARD. machine collected Jade Edwards and all three fired into the wall, with Geddie’s tourer rolling once. Naturally, the red flag emerged.

Upon the restart, Cook held his lead into the Complex thanks to Ingram acting as a wall when the former went sideways. With cold tyres, a fast Butcher shot his Toyota Corolla straight into the tyre wall, and the safety car once more appeared. During all of this, Sutton made a forced trip to the pit-lane with engine issues; after a quick fix, the reigning champ was in last again.

When the action resumed, it was a BTC Racing one-two with Cammish trailing Cook. Daniel Rowbottom emphasised his strong return to the category as he passed Plato for P4 on lap 11, and Sutton had made his way back into the top 10 by lap 14.

One tour later, the chequered flag was brought out for Cook’s second win in as many races, with substitute teammate Cammish backing off towards the tail-end. Hill completed the podium once more in his Ford Focus ST.

Race-winner Cook said:

“It definitely helped having my team-mate with me there. I’ve got to say, huge thanks to Dan – I’m sure he could have made my life a lot more difficult. Another one-two for BTC Racing and our second win of the day – we’ve got off to a dream start.”

Race 2’s Top 10:

Josh Cook
Dan Cammish
Jake Hill
Daniel Rowbottom
Jason Plato
Tom Ingram
Colin Turkington
Aiden Moffat
Ash Sutton
Tom Oliphant

Race 3:

In wet conditions, Team BMW’s Stephen Jelley was drawn on pole for the weekend’s final race. Starting third, Sutton gained one place when the lights went out as Tom Oliphant experimented on slick tyres, dropping back 16 places by the end of the first lap.

Sutton and Turkington took no time in overtaking Jelley, doing so on lap 2, with Laser Tools Racing teammate Aiden Moffat retiring with problems having raced well in P4 up until lap 7.

With the rain receding, Cammish and Rowbottom made the plunge for dry compounds as Hill and Oliphant recovered their lost positions on a changing surface. The MB Motorsport driver would make 14 positions on one lap as he capitalised on the confusing environment.

By lap 11, Oliphant and Hill had now made their way up to the front of the field. However, the Team BMW man was dealt a five-second penalty for being outside his grid position at the start of the race, promoting Sutton to P2 as the rain reappeared.

As a result, Sutton passed both drivers for the lead with only three laps to go, and stayed their for his first win of 2021’s campaign. Plato would eventually out-drag Hill to the line for his first podium of the day, with Hill claiming triple bronze finishes.