There was a lively opening to the BTCC season at Donington Park a couple of weeks ago, with the weather certainly helping to spice up the entertainment. With conditions sunny and dry at Brands Hatch Indy on race day, would the series produce another blockbuster day?

Qualifying – Dan Cammish, Colin Turkington, Jake Hill, Ash Sutton, Dan Rowbottom, Bobby Thompson

At the end of the Top Ten Showdown, Dan Cammish emerged as the fastest man to edge out Colin Turkington by 0.2s. Jake Hill lined up third with Cammish’s teammate Ash Sutton alongside him and they were followed by Bobby Thompson and another NAPA Racing Ford in Dan Rowbottom.

Race One, 4.5/10 – Colin Turkington, Ash Sutton, Dan Cammish

• Turkington made an excellent start to take the lead from Cammish and Sutton soon followed him through too. However, a large crash involving several cars, started by Rowbottom tagging Stephen Jelley at the start of the pit straight, brought out the red flag and the cars lined-up in their original positions for the restart. 
• On the restart, Turkington once again overtook Cammish off the line, with Hill and Sutton following him through over the lap, before Cammish recovered to third. 
• Despite Sutton initially closing on Turkington and plenty of mid-pack action, Turkington eased out his lead in a shortened race. 
• A little further back, reigning champion Tom Ingram was challenging Rory Butcher and after several laps was successful, with Thompson also passing him for a top six finish. Although there was close action down the field, it wasn’t a classic race. 

Race Two, 5/10 – Ash Sutton, Tom Ingram, Colin Turkington

• Despite Turkington initially making a good start, a better line from Sutton meant that he took the lead at the first corner and he was soon followed through by Ingram, who had made an excellent start of his own. 
• The main pack was incredibly close for lots of periods throughout the race to keep the viewing entertaining, with the odd switch of position here and there. 
• Meanwhile at the front, Sutton was managing the race, but teammate Cammish failed to hold off Hill after several laps of close running, as he dropped to fifth. 
• Some late action between Sam Osborne, Ricky Collard and Josh Cook provided some extra interest, with Osborne eventually dropping down the pack with a late issue. 

Race Three, 6.5/10 – Ricky Collard*, Ash Sutton, Bobby Thompson, Tom Ingram

• Sutton drew ball 11 out of the bowl after the second race, which meant that Thompson was promoted to pole alongside Collard. As the race started, the pair were side by side for half a lap, before Collard secured the lead.  An incredible start by Sutton saw him jump six places on the opening lap.
• It only took Sutton a couple of laps to be third and on lap 6, he secured second after taking a tighter line than Thompson. Shortly after, the gap to leader Collard was less than 0.8 of a second. 
• Despite Collard having more hybrid to deploy, Sutton was on his bumper for the remainder of the race and pressurised Collard throughout. With just a few laps remaining, the news came through that Collard would have a ten second time penalty for exceeding track limits. However, this still didn’t stop the pair battling and while Collard crossed the line first, he was not the winner and finished eighth.  
• In the pack during the race, there were notable incidents for the other Toyotas of George Gamble and Rory Butcher who nearly came together and, as a result, Hill nipped thorough to take them both. However, a spin for Hill following a puncture ruined his chances of a points scoring finish.

As can often be the case, the best race of the day was the final one, in an otherwise absorbing day of action, without really producing fireworks. It would seem that some of the changes for the 2023 season are already producing positive impacts, albeit six races in and only three fully dry ones. 

The changes to hybrid use appear to be positive, as last year it all became much of a muchness. On the evidence of Brands Hatch Indy, the amount available depending on your finishing position, did seem to positively impact on the next race, as it was intended to last year. 

Similarly, the re-introduction of an option tyre, in this meeting’s case, the soft, was highly positive. Turkington made great use of it in the opening race, for example, and several other drivers, including Sutton, did throughout the day too. In the next meeting at Snetterton, there will not just be one race with a different tyre, as the teams will need to use all three tyre compounds across Sunday, with the medium being used for qualifying. 

However, in the early stages of the championship, it seems the NAPA Fords could run any tyre and win, given that they have taken both pole positions available and four wins out of six, with two victories apiece for Cammish and Sutton. At Brands Hatch, not only did Sutton claim a double victory and second, but fastest lap in each race too. Ominous signs for the rest of the pack [depressing signs for anyone not a Sutton fan, too – Ed].

Although Sutton didn’t cross the line first in the final race of the day, the pressure he put on Collard forced him to abuse the track limits, although the rule seems questionable. While keeping your car on track should be expected, to only police it on certain corners seems farcical. This needs to be something that is addressed as a matter of urgency as we don’t want races and championships decided by penalties from the stewards’ room. 

It is unsurprising to see the current top five being at the top of the championship given their experience and recent form. Despite NAPA’s dominance, Ingram is undoubtedly in early contention to retain his crown and evergreen Turkington is where you’d expect him to be, especially considering he is now second on the all-time list of BTCC race wins. 

Who will lead the pack at Snetterton? The smart money will once again be on the NAPA Fords.

2023 BTCC Championship Standings:

1.	Dan Cammish	88 points
2.	Tom Ingram	83
3.	Ashley Sutton	78
4.	Colin Turkington	70
5.	Jake Hill	58
6.	Bobby Thompson	48