For the first time since 2002, the BTCC returned to the Donington Park Grand Prix circuit layout for its latest rounds of action. Ash Sutton came into the meeting with a lead of 37 points over Tom Ingram following a highly successful event at a rain soaked Knockhill in the previous meeting, with Jake Hill a further 13 behind Ingram. 

Qualifying – Ash Sutton, Tom Ingram, Ricky Collard, Colin Turkington, Árón Taylor-Smith, Jake Hill*

Qualifying returned to its traditional format, following the Top Ten Showdown at Knockhill. However, this made no difference to Sutton, as with just one second of hybrid use for being the championship leader, he still took consecutive pole positions and his fifth in eight meetings. Ingram joined him on the front row, with Ricky Collard and Colin Turkington behind. 

Árón Taylor-Smith drove his Astra to an impressive fifth and while Hill was sixth on the time sheets, a three-place grid penalty from Knockhill meant that Josh Cook started on the third row instead.

Race One, 6/10 – Ash Sutton, Tom Ingram*, Jake Hill*

• Sutton made a poor start on a wet track as both Ingram, and briefly Collard, overtook him. Adam Morgan made a couple of places off the line to be fifth, but that was as good as it got for him as Taylor-Smith and Cook soon reclaimed their positions and Morgan dropped down to 12^th by the end. 
• At the end of the second lap, a recovered Sutton passed Ingram for the lead at the Melbourne Hairpin and slowly, but surely, grew a comfortable lead.
• The early laps provided a close six car battle for eighth, while Turkington couldn’t get enough of an overlap at any point to take third from Collard, despite laps of effort. 
• Hill, meanwhile, was on a charge and throughout the race he picked off car after car, often with the same move, and on the final lap, he was on Ingram’s bumper. As they went into the final corner, Hill tried on the outside line to overtake Ingram, but was never ahead, and Ingram crossed the line just ahead in a near photo finish. 

*The stewards applied a 0.5s penalty to Ingram post-race as they deemed he had gained an advantage by not leaving a car’s width for Hill as they entered the final straight, resulting in the positions being swapped. 

Race Two, 5.5/10 – Tom Ingram, Ash Sutton, Jake Hill

• The track had dried for the second race and the top three were all close off the line, but it didn’t take Ingram long to pass Hill, while Turkington and Cook both overtook Collard. Some intriguing battles were happening in the early stages through the pack, with the battle for 9^th notable. 
• Ingram pressurised Sutton and at the start of lap 4, they ran side by side down the Craner Curves with Ingram coming out on top. With their battle, it allowed Hill and Turkington to close up and the top four ran closely for several laps, before Ingram pulled out a gap.
• There were more close battles in the pack throughout the race, while Hill was all over the back of Sutton with a third of the race to go. However, despite Sutton having to defend, Hill just couldn’t find the extra bit of speed needed to create a real chance to take second. 

Race Three, 7/10 – Rory Butcher, Árón Taylor-Smith, Adam Morgan

• Ingram pulled out ball 12 to create the maximum grid disruption possible for the final race of the day. Dan Lloyd and Tom Chilton shared the front row, with Taylor-Smith, Morgan and Rory Butcher completing the top five. 
• Lloyd held the lead off the line, despite Chilton completely misjudging his grid box slot, resulting in a five second penalty that was applied at the end of the race. By the end of the lap, Hill was already ahead of Turkington, but as Turkington held up Sutton on the next lap, Ingram powered by. 
• On lap 4, the trio moved ahead of Cook, while Taylor-Smith made a move on Chilton for third that nearly let Butcher pass them both. However, Butcher did get Taylor-Smith down the Craner Curves. 
• Hill walloped the tyre barrier at The Esses which left debris on the road, a rather battered BMW and lost momentum that allowed Turkington to pass him. A short safety car period was needed to clear up the track and when racing resumed, Butcher was all over Lloyd, who’d previously had a near two second lead. 
• Over the next couple of laps, there were plenty of overtakes, which jumbled up the lower end of the top ten, helped in part by a punctured Dan Rowbottom slowing at an inconvenient part of the track. As such, it meant that Sutton and Turkington climbed the order, before finishing fifth and sixth, with Ingram and Hill finishing seventh and eighth. 
• There was drama on the final lap as it looked like Lloyd would just hold on for victory, but with half a lap to go, Lloyd’s Cupra broke and it sent him spinning into the gravel and Butcher claimed the chequered flag for his first victory of the season. 

It was certainly a positive experience returning to the Grand Prix layout at Donington for the fans and from their comments, the drivers. It was a delight to see a new circuit configuration, rather than just another meeting at Thruxton. The good news is that the same calendar is already in place for 2024. 

As we have become accustomed to, it was another great day for Sutton. His ninth win of the season, a second and a fifth helped him to edge out a slightly bigger lead over Ingram. Sutton arrived with the biggest lead he had ever held in the championship and it now sits at 42 points with just six races remaining. 

Ingram’s first race bad luck continued from Knockhill where he failed the ride height to being penalised for not leaving enough room for Hill at Donington. It was a decision that caused controversy. Ingram, the commentary team and social media couldn’t believe it. If this is what racing has become, it’s on a slippery slope. Drivers from the eras of Rickard Rydell, James Thompson and Alain Menu et al would have had to wait until Monday for the final results if that has become a penalty, such was it the norm in their day. 

Despite Ingram being outstanding in race two, claiming only his second victory of the year, it’s going to take an incredible turn of events for Sutton not to lift the crown now. At Silverstone, he should have more NAPA support in the form of his fastest teammate Dan Cammish after he withdrew from the event following a brake failure in FP1 leaving the rear end of a Ford Focus a metre shorter than it should have been. Thankfully, Cammish was relatively fine after the incident. 

It will take a miracle for Ingram to retain his title and it will take divine inspiration for Hill to claim his first title as he now sits 62 points behind Sutton and Turkington’s faint hopes were extinguished at Knockhill, despite a relatively strong showing this time out. Hill seems to be able to eke out that extra tenth of a second in his BMW in race conditions compared to Turkington.

Hill needs to keep his machine in full working order going into the next races as his talent his clear, but he needs to improve his consistency, something that Sutton has developed over the years. If he manages to do this, Hill will have a real chance of becoming a champion in the future. 

The next meeting is a visit to Silverstone where there have been plenty of entertaining races over the years. Will anyone be able to stop Sutton’s dominance [hopefully – Ed]?

2023 British Touring Car Championship Standings after 24 rACES:

1.	Ashley Sutton	362 points
2.	Tom Ingram	320 points
3.	Jake Hill	300
4.	Colin Turkington	263
5.	Dan Cammish	220
6.	Josh Cook	211