NAPA Racing UK took another podium clean sweep in the second BTCC bout at Croft as standings leader Ash Sutton swept to his seventh race win of the season so far.
The #116 Ford Focus blasted off the line from third on the grid and cruised around the outside of his NAPA Racing UK team-mates to move into the lead through turn one, and the ultra-talented Sutton eventually pulled nearly eight seconds clear of the chasing pack.
Dan Cammish backed up his race one win success with a second place finish in this contest, whilst Dan Rowbottom again claimed third as he fended off Tom Ingram for the 15-lap duration.
BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8's Ingram hounded down Rowbottom and hauled his Hyundai i30N alongside his rival at one stage early on, but he was unable to make a move stick and had to settle for fourth.
One Motorsport with Starline Racing's Josh Cook was fifth ahead of Team BMW's Colin Turkington, but there was drama for one title contender as Jake Hill spun down the order whilst in the battle for a top five finish.
Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport's Hill was pressuring Cook's Honda Civic Type R but seemed to push too hard through turn one on lap ten and eventually lost control on the exit of the turn – he would eventually finish 11th.
Stephen Jelley improved further to grab seventh for Team BMW, whilst birthday boy Ricky Collard provided some respite for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with eighth.
Daniel Lloyd (Autobrite Direct with Millers Oils) and Tom Chilton (BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8) completed the top ten positions.
Round 18 of the 2023 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship will take place at 1700 and will be screened live on ITV4.
Turkington will start the race on pole position, with Cook alongside, by virtue of the reverse grid draw.
Ash Sutton said: "Those changes overnight have definitely worked – that car just came alive, it's absolutely mega on the soft tyre. All cars are but that was just something else.
"I got a nice launch and I think I made the most of that soft tyre and got the jump on Dan [Cammish]. But he was still there on the inside so I had to go a little bit later than I wanted to on the brake just to make it stick.
"Just pleased with it. Got my head down, got the fastest lap point and then brought it home."
Dan Cammish said: "From our side, I think we have had more team debriefs this weekend than we have in a while and are doing our absolute best for NAPA Racing UK as a whole.
"We played a strategic game in the first one with Ash [Sutton] using the medium and me and Dan [Rowbottom] racing it out on the softs. We knew that would reverse and we had a price to pay for that with Ash getting the upper hand – it worked out perfectly. I'm glad we are all stood here again with a 1-2-3."
Dan Rowbottom said: "We just started to reduce the gap down to Dan [Cammish] and thought we had a bit of pace here, but then old Tom [Ingram] puts a cheeky move in at the hairpin and sticks his nose in my door – which is fine, good Touring Car racing! But we had to work hard and it took most of that race just to get enough air between the two of us that I knew we were safe. We had limited hybrid so I was having to manage that as well, and figure out how much he had left versus me.
"It was great. Tom [Ingram] is no slouch, so keeping him behind is a good day."
2023 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Race 2 – Croft
1. Ashley Sutton, NAPA Racing UK +0.717s
2. Dan Cammish, NAPA Racing UK +7.682s
3. Daniel Rowbottom, NAPA Racing UK +9.853s
4. Tom Ingram, BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8 +10.607s
5. Josh Cook, One Motorsport with Starline Racing +13.607s
6. Colin Turkington, Team BMW +13.607s
7. Stephen Jelley, Team BMW +14.292s
8. Ricky Collard, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK +15.103s
9. Daniel Lloyd, Autobrite Direct with Millers Oils +15.627s
10. Tom Chilton, BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8 +17.122s
11. Jake Hill, Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport +21.839s
12. Árón Taylor-Smith, CarStore Power Maxed Racing +28.734s
13. Adam Morgan, Team BMW +22.776s
14. Andrew Watson, CarStore Power Maxed Racing +30.264s
15. Sam Osborne, NAPA Racing UK
16. Mikey Doble, CarStore Power Maxed Racing +31.062s
17. Aiden Moffat, One Motorsport with Starline Racing +31.441s
18. Rory Butcher, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK +33.486s
19. Michael Crees, Autobrite Direct with Millers Oils +34.783s
20. Jack Butel, Go-Fix with Autoaid Breakdown +36.346s
21. Daryl DeLeon, Re.Beverages and Bartercard with Team HARD +43.982s
22. Nick Halstead, BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8 +44.221s
23. Jade Edwards, One Motorsport with Starline Racing +45.248s
24. Ronan Pearson, BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8 +1 Lap
25. George Gamble, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK +8 Laps
26. Dexter Patterson, Re.Beverages and Bartercard with Team HARD +13 Laps
