SUTTON SUPREME ASHES WEEPS TO A DOUBLE VICTORY ON HIST C RU KDE BUT
Reigning British Touring Car champion Ash Sutton dominated on his TCR UK debut at Oulton Park, while championship leader Dan Lloyd recorded his weakest results of the campaign and picked up a licence points penalty that reduces his advantage in the standings.
Sutton, driving Finlay Crocker’s Honda Civic, topped every session he took part in and was particularly ruthless in the races. His performance away from the line was solid but not remarkable, but his lead at the end of the first lap of both contests was well in excess of two seconds; they were effectively over almost before they had started.
The opener was restarted as a 15-minute sprint after Carl Swift’s SEAT and Robert Gilmour’s Alfa crashed heavily at Island, with Gilmour excluded from the results. The outcome was confused by a flurry of penalties involving those battling to be the best of the rest, with Combe winner Ollie Taylor (Honda) and Derek Palmer (Alfa) initially having 10s added to their times for an out of position start. The latter was rescinded, but Palmer did pick up a 5s time addition for track limits infringements so, while he finished an encouraging second on the road, he was classified fourth. Taylor, who had lost track position to the opportunistic Lloyd (VW Golf) at Lodge on lap five of nine while he was attacking Palmer, was pinged all the way back to eighth, with Lloyd and his Swedish team-mate Andreas Backman completing the podium.
In race two, Hyundai i30 N driver Lewis Kent looked set for his best TCR finish of second position – behind Sutton – when pressure from Taylor told and, on shot tyres, he went wide at Lodge on the final lap. Kent nevertheless secured his second podium of the campaign, but from row four Taylor’s drive had been a quietly impressive one. Along the way, he profited when Lloyd turned Stewart Lines (VW) into a spin at Cascades as they battled over third, delaying both. Lloyd kept his fourth position, but was given a penalty that costs him 15 championship points, although he is still 78 clear of Taylor.
Niall Murray took another step towards regaining his National Formula Ford 1600 title with a victory and second place. The first race was textbook Murray as the Van Diemen RF99 driver reeled out an 8s margin over his rivals on his way to win number 10 of 2018. Luke Cooper (Swift SC16) held second initially but lost out to Michael Eastwell (Spectrum 011C) on the run away from Druids on lap three, and Matt Round-garrido (Medina JL17) at Old Hall on the final lap.
Race two was made enormously chaotic by Murray unaccountably starting the race in third gear, and he plummeted from pole to sixth by the end of the first lap. Murray’s teammate Round-garrido drove around the outside of Eastwell at Cascades on lap two of eight to take the lead, with Murray – in spectacular fashion – joining him out front on lap six, the pair touching at Hislops.
Matters came to a head on the run out of Old Hall on the last lap, with Murray and Round-garrido wheel-to-wheel, leaving the way clear for Joey Foster (Ray GR08) to pass both on the inside towards Cascades, surviving pad knock-off during the remainder of the lap to beat Murray and Eastwell by 0.032s. Round-garrido was shovelled off the road at Lodge on the final lap and came home ninth.
It is advantage Jack Harding in the MX-5 Supercup, but only just. He and Luke Herbert arrived at Oulton locked together in the points but, although each had a win, Harding went home with one more second and one more fastest lap, leaving him four points clear. Herbert had Harding glued to his bumper throughout the opener, but his four-race Oulton winning streak came to an end in the rematch, Harding getting the run on the leader through Island on lap six of eight and completing the move at Shell.
The reversed-grid “decider” actually went the way of Aidan Hills, who “nearly cried” on the slowing down lap having taken his first victory by way of a move around the outside of former champion James Blake-Baldwin at Druids. After losing three places on the opening lap, Harding bounced back to claim second, striking when Herbert’s attempt on Hills’ lead ended in a grassy moment at Old Hall.
Aside from the three Hs, Jonny Greensmith had also been in championship contention but his hopes took a blow due to a retirement from race one and subsequent engine change, although he bounced back with 13th and seventh.