Ash Sutton: “We had to bounce back today”

Ash Sutton said he was pleased to see his race day go to plan at Knockhill after extending his lead in the BTCC standings.

Sutton had been forced to contend with food poisoning during Saturday but managed to qualify sixth on the grid, and converted that into a solid fourth in race one.

A fine drive in race two saw Sutton pressure Colin Turkington into a rare mistake as he secured victory on the final lap and he then minimised his losses to race winner Tom Ingram in race three by coming from ninth on the grid to fifth.

It leaves Sutton 14 points clear in the standings going to Thruxton later this month.

“The main goal was to bounce back today and that is what we did. Race one went well and then it was great in race two to be able to get the win in the way we did. The safety car helped a bit but I was keeping the pressure on Colin and when he made a mistake, I only needed half a chance to get ahead.

“I knew in race three that we would struggle to match what Tom could do and I’d have been shocked if he didn’t win that one. We were able to minimise the losses to him and finished ahead of Colin, so it’s been a good day all round.”