Ash Sutton took the honours in a pulsating, crash-strewn final British Touring Car Championship race of the day at Croft.
The four-time title winner led home Tom Ingram by 2.201 seconds at the wheel of his Alliance Racing-run NAPA Ford Focus ST after some scintillating racecraft from fifth on the grid.
It means that he further narrows the points deficit to Excelr8 Motorsport Hyundai i30 N Fastback driver Ingram, who moved into the championship lead thanks to his victory in the first race of the day, and Sutton’s non-score.
Reversed-grid poleman Aiden Moffat got away in front with his West Surrey Racing BMW 330i M Sport, but front-row partner Ingram threw his Hyundai around the outside of Clervaux.
Ingram was slightly in front as they threaded through the left-hand kink that follows, but Moffat was not giving way and contact prompted the 2022 champion to miraculously hold a slide and drop only to third, behind Moffat and another WSR BMW of Charles Rainford.
Ingram attempted to fight back on Rainford at the Jim Clark Esses, only for Sutton to chisel his way down the inside at Sunny In and emerged in second place.
Moffat now had an advantage of 1.7 seconds, only for a big pile-up at the complex to bring out the safety car.
Adam Morgan had worked his way down the inside of Rainford at Sunny, and Dan Cammish then got a run on the BMW on the exit. But as Cammish turned into the complex, he was nudged by Rainford onto the grass.
Tom Ingram
The Alliance Ford was out of control and as Cammish rejoined the circuit he harpooned the WSR BMW of Daryl DeLeon, with the unfortunate Chris Smiley collected as collateral damage.
Rainford was also delayed in the incident, while Dan Rowbottom and Mikey Doble were forced to the pits for quick repairs.
On the restart, Ingram went down the inside of Sutton at Hawthorn’s, and the Ford skipped the chicane before the Hyundai’s momentum carried it past for second place at Tower.
Immediately Ingram went after Moffat, but the Scot held the inside line at the hairpin – and Sutton dived down the inside of both of them to snatch the lead.
Ingram’s repeated attempts to pass Moffat allowed the sister Excelr8 Hyundai of Senna Proctor through, and now the Yorkshireman hunted down the BMW for second.
Proctor got a run going into the complex, Moffat moved across to defend, and he was nerfed onto the grass – as Cammish was earlier – and down to sixth place.
With five laps remaining, Ingram got down the inside of Proctor at the hairpin for second place, but by now Sutton was 2.5 seconds to the good.
Ingram trimmed the gap, but Sutton re-extended to take the flag with an advantage of 2.201s.
Proctor was third, while Gordon Shedden, who had been forced into a half-spin to avoid the Sutton/Moffat/Ingram fight for the lead at the hairpin, finished fourth in his Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Corolla GR Sport.
Morgan carried his Excelr8 Hyundai to fifth ahead of Moffat, Sam Osborne (Alliance Ford), the hard-tyred Excelr8 Hyundai of Tom Chilton and Aron Taylor-Smith’s Speedworks Toyota.
After his pitstop, Doble caught the pack in his Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall Astra and barged his way past Dexter Patterson’s Un-Limited Cupra Leon for 10th at the final corner.
BTCC Croft – Race 3 results
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