Following two wins in each of the last two meetings, Ash Sutton arrived at a sun-drenched Thruxton as the man in form. The use of three different tyre compounds improved the racing at Snetterton, but as Thruxton is the fastest circuit in the UK and has an abrasive surface, only the hard tyre was on offer for the latest set of races. 

Qualifying – Ash Sutton, Tom Ingram, Josh Cook, Mikey Doble, Jake Hill, Colin Turkington

Despite having the least amount of hybrid deployment available to him as the championship leader, Sutton produced an outstanding lap to secure pole, ahead of closest rival, Tom Ingram. Josh Cook, who had won half of the races in Hampshire during the last four visits, lined up third with Mikey Doble incredibly securing a second row slot in his Astra. The BMW pair of Jake Hill and Colin Turkington completed the top six. 

Race One, 4.5/10 – Ash Sutton, Tom Ingram, Josh Cook

• Sutton and Ingram got away well from the line and immediately started to scamper off as Cook was forced to heavily defend from Hill for a good chunk of the opening lap.
• Doble’s good qualifying was slowly undone from the start, and during the race, as several drivers found a way by, although he did complete the race in 8th, despite a superb battle with five cars chasing him down at the end.
• On lap 2, a whack from Tom Chilton into Stephen Jelley sent him spinning at the end of the lap, with several cars all over the track in avoidance for what was the race’s major collision incident. 
• Around the mid-race point, Cook had started to chase down Ingram in second, but despite being close for the rest of the race, it came to nothing. At the front, Sutton eased to victory. 

Race Two, 3/10 – Ash Sutton, Tom Ingram, Josh Cook

• The leaders all had clean starts, although Dan Cammish dropped a couple of places from fifth and then Turkington lost a couple of positions after a small wobble. 
• Will Powell suffered hefty front-end damage after hitting the barriers on lap 2, but no safety car was needed as Sutton disappeared once again.
• There was a great battle for 14th involving six cars on lap 6, which ebbed and flowed nicely. 
• In the final third of the race, Ingram started to close the gap to Sutton, although he didn’t mount any serious challenge before the end of the race. Cammish and Turkington reclaimed the places they lost on the opening lap against Rory Butcher and as such, the top seven was the same as how the race started. 

Race Three, 6/10 – Dan Rowbottom, Adam Morgan, Aiden Moffat

• For a third successive event, Sutton drew the ball for the reverse grid pole and Adam Morgan was lucky ball 12, with Aiden Moffat, Ricky Collard and Árón Taylor-Smith joining him at the front.
• The leading cars started well with Dan Rowbottom and Turkington moving up from fifth and seventh as the lights went out. It didn’t take long for Rowbottom to overtake Collard for third, although Moffat appeared to be holding everyone up as Morgan was building a healthy lead. 
• Rowbottom tried to overtake Moffat, but with Collard and Turkington close, the positions switched and then switched back again before Moffat remained second, with Rowbottom, Turkington and Collard behind. 
• However, on lap 5, Rowbottom secured second at the beginning of the lap and started to chase down Morgan, who was 2.7 seconds up the road. For the remainder of the race, Turkington and Collard were close to Moffat, but the Scotsman held on well to secure his first podium of the season. 
• For most of the race Butcher held up a great train of cars to bring some entertainment, but there was further interest at the front as Rowbottom quickly caught Morgan and then passed him before flying off into the distance. The main protagonists from races one and two spent all of race three together as well, albeit just outside of the top ten for most of the race. 

It is fair to say the races at Thruxton weren’t the best we’ll see this season, as once again the weekend was dominated by Sutton. To have won six out of the last eight races, in this era of touring cars, is mind-blowing. Is Sutton simply that good? Is his car that much better than everyone else’s? Do the hybrid success penalties not work? Did only one tyre compound contribute? Probably, yes to all of the questions set.

NAPA have spent their money expecting success and it certainly seems to have been spent wisely, given the picture after twelve races. They arguably do have the best driver on the grid in Sutton and it seems unquestionable that the Ford Focus’ chassis is the best. The car, once again, wasn’t the fastest in the speed traps, far from it, but how it can deliver consistently brilliant lap times is incredible and down to the chassis.  When Sutton isn’t winning, his teammates usually pick up the baton with nine of the twelve races having been won by NAPA Racing. 

It has been a long time since we’ve seen dominance like this and it may remind some of seasons in the late 1990s, but given the hybrid success penalties, it shouldn’t be happening as easily as it is. Or are the hybrid penalties not working? Last season, the consensus was that they hadn’t worked, hence the positive changes to the length of availability and deployment speeds for this season. Just last time out at Snetterton, they seemed to have an impact, but at Thruxton, you wouldn’t have even known a success penalty existed. 

The fact that the top seven cars remained the same between races one and two is not something that we have come to expect and as BTCC fans it’s fair to say we feel robbed of action. In addition, at Snetterton, the use of three tyre compounds undoubtedly helped to produce better races, but with Thruxton’s surface being so abrasive, it wasn’t possible. It may be fantastic to see cars driving on the limit around the fastest circuit on the calendar, but is it worth the lack of race entertainment? 

Although Sutton’s in imperious form, he is only 14 points ahead of Ingram in the championship. Ingram is doing an amazing job to hang on to Sutton, albeit Sutton had a poor opening two races of the season. Turkington is a further 27 points behind Ingram and as it stands, you can’t see Turkington hauling a 41-point gap back, yet alone overtaking Sutton and building his own lead. 

So, is it championship over already? It is hard to see how anyone other than Sutton can win the title given what we have witnessed so far. Will, like in 2019 when WSR had won five out of nine, there be implications for the NAPA cars like there was for the WSR BMWs when boost levels were adjusted? However, some hope for the rest of the field is that in race three Sutton started 12^th and finished… 12^th. Or, was he just playing games and staying under the radar after an already excellent day? We don’t, and won’t ever, know. 

Oulton Park serves up the next action and given how the season has gone, Oulton Park will serve up the next NAPA dominated event. 

2023 British Touring Car Championship standings after 12 races:

1.	Ashley Sutton	183 points
2.	Tom Ingram	169
3.	Colin Turkington	142
4.	Jake Hill	130
5.	Dan Cammish	128
6.	Dan Rowbottom	95