Ash Sutton: That pole means more than the first

Ash Sutton admitted he was delighted at a second BTCC career pole after topping the times in qualifying for the penultimate meeting of the year at Silverstone.

The MG driver led the way in the second free practice session of the weekend and then repeated the feat in qualifying to edge Tom Ingram out of pole position, with the pair split by just 0.003secs at the finish.

“That pole feels better than my first one did as we really earned that result,” Sutton said. “There was a bit of pressure on us after the performance in FP2 but the whole team worked hard to make a few changes and they paid dividends.

“We’ve been on a bit of a downer since the win at Croft but not through any fault of our own as we got caught up in other peoples incidents at both Snetterton and Knockhill. We knew Rockingham wouldn’t suit the MG but here, the aim was to try and bounce back. We’ve certainly come out fighting and shown we are right in the mix.”

Sutton will start from the front of the grid as he seeks to move a step closer to the Jack Sears Trophy, which he can provisionally secure this weekend if he outscores Michael Epps by six points.

Epps will start race one towards the rear of the grid after failing to set a representative time, although Sutton admitted he was putting the points to the back of his mind.

“I’m just going for the win and if I can do that, then the Jack Sears Trophy should come naturally,” he said. “I certainly want to be pushing for the podium and hopefully I can wrap the title up at the same time.

“Everyone at the front will be pushing hard for the win but I think it will only help that Josh [Cook] is up there in third as we can work as a team against drivers who are on their own.”