NAPA Racing UK claimed a clean sweep of victories in the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship this past weekend (June 3/4) as Ash Sutton and Dan Rowbottom shared the spoils around Thruxton.
Making its only visit of the season to the home of the British Automobile Racing Club, the UK’s premier motorsport series was greeted in Hampshire by bright sunshine and packed spectator bankings – all of whom witnessed a day of domination.
Three-time champion Sutton – who arrived at Thruxton off the back of double wins at Brands Hatch and Snetterton – wasted no time in asserting his dominance on the rest of the field as he stormed to a second consecutive pole position during Saturday qualifying.
Blasting away from the front row on race day, Sutton replicated his tactics of Snetterton by punching in a number of rapid lap times during the opening exchanges. Establishing an advantage over the chasing pack, he then cruised home to comfortably take victory in races one and two.
Not only did those triumphs enable him to extend his championship lead but it also meant he became the first driver in the BTCC’s ‘three-race format’ to claim double wins in three successive race meetings.
As Sutton romped to success in races one and two, reigning champion Tom Ingram and ‘King of Thruxton’ Josh Cook ran bumper-to-bumper across both contests to clinch a brace of second and third place finishes respectively.
Rowbottom then rounded out an incredible weekend for the Kent-based powerhouse outfit as he won the reverse grid encounter in style, hunting down pole-sitter Adam Morgan before making the decisive move for the lead upon entry into Church Corner.
Starting fifth, Rowbottom wasted no time in working his way up the order and after dispatching a resolute Aiden Moffat, the Ford driver set off after Morgan – closing down a two second lead within a matter of laps.
Diving down the inside as they sped towards the fastest corner in the country on lap ten, Rowbottom soon scampered clear to claim his first win of the season while Morgan and Moffat completed the rostrum.
Following the conclusion of Rounds 10, 11 & 12, Sutton tops the BTCC Drivers’ Championship – 14 points ahead of Ingram – whilst Motorbase-Ford head the Manufacturers-Constructors Championship.
On the TOCA support package, high speed thrills and spills were in full force as the a number of championships took centre stage to continue their campaigns.
Robert de Haan and Charles Rainford shared the spoils in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB whilst James Piszyck, Noah Lisle and William Macintyre claimed a win apiece in the ROKiT F4 British Championship certified by FIA.
Arguably some of the most entertaining races over the course of the weekend came in the shape of the Vertu Motors MINI CHALLENGE Trophy, Dunlop Mini Miglia Challenge supported by Mini Spares and Dunlop Mini Se7en Challenge supported by Mini Spares.
Sensational slip-streaming and at times four-wide wheel-to-wheel battles had everyone on the edge of their seats and rightly so. In the MINI CHALLENGE Trophy, Alex Solley and Jack Byrne triumphed whilst the father-son duo of Andrew and Mike Jordan took a clean sweep in the Miglia and Se7en contests.
To view the full classification of results from all sessions at Thruxton, CLICK HERE.
The Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship reaches the halfway point in the 2023 season next time out as it travels to Oulton Park on June 17/18.