The BTCC resumed a month after its last meeting at Donington Park as the countdown to silverware started in earnest. Ash Sutton arrived at Silverstone with one hand already on the trophy thanks to a 42-point lead over reigning champion Tom Ingram. Jake Hill, in third, started the meeting a further 20 points back. If things went really well for Sutton, he could claim his fourth title with a meeting to spare, but how did the Silverstone’s National Circuit play out? 

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

The Top Ten Showdown format was used for the final time this season and for the first time this year, a NAPA Ford was not on pole. The honour of securing the first grid box went, somewhat surprisingly, to Mikey Doble in his Power Maxed Astra. Colin Turkington joined Doble on the front row, with Ingram and Hill behind. Sutton’s teammate, Dan Rowbottom, sacrificed his final faster lap in the normal qualifying session to ensure that Sutton remained in the top ten and he rewarded the team game with fifth on the grid, just ahead of Tom Chilton. 

Race One: 7/10 – Jake Hill, Dan Rowbottom, Andrew Watson

• The weather decided to have some fun for the start of the opening race. Although the track was wet and greasy, it wasn’t raining, or at least it wasn’t until it was too late to change tyres on the grid. As a result, there was a real mix of tyre choices, with only Hill going with the full wet out of the top five. 
• Further drama was to happen before the lights went out as Doble completed an extra green flag, putting him at the back of the field. When the race started, Hill zoomed into the lead off the line, while those on slick tyres really struggled for traction.
• Cars were all over the track on the opening lap as those on the wet tyre made their way by those struggling on slicks. Turkington was bashed into at the end of the lap and had to pit as a result of the damage. 
• The top four on lap 2 was Hill (up 3), Andrew Watson (up 10), Sam Osborne (up 7) and Rowbottom (up 9) such was the change in order because of the grip levels between the tyres. 
• On lap 4, Sutton and Ingram, who had previously been spun around, decided enough was enough and pitted for wets. On Ingram’s return to the track he found himself in the battle for 4th, 5th and 6th, albeit a lap down as he tried to unlap himself. 
• By lap 14, those who had remained on slicks started to match the lap times of those one wets as the track started to come to them. As such, more moves were made before the end of the race, most notably by Rory Butcher who moved from 11th to 6th, with Aron Taylor-Smith following him through each time. 
• At the front, Hill comfortably won, but with a few laps remaining, Rowbottom made a move stick on Watson to take the second step on the podium, with Adam Morgan missing out in fourth. Championship contenders, Sutton and Ingram, finished 23rd and 22nd. 

Race Two: 9.5/10 – Ash Sutton, Aron Taylor-Smith, Tom Ingram

• On a now dry track, Hill made a super getaway and was initially followed by Morgan, before Watson took the place back. At the end of the lap, Ingram was hit by Jack Butel which opened up a large gap for Sutton to drive into and make several positions. 
• The early drama continued on the next lap as this time Rowbottom was turned around after fighting with Morgan and Taylor-Smith, but he was able to keep going. 
• By lap 5, Sutton had already made his way up to 12th with what seemed like ridiculous ease and he was helped again a couple of laps later as Aidan Moffat simply indicated to let him by. 
• At the front, Taylor-Smith and Morgan were 2nd and 3rd ahead of Watson while the battle for the final point was wildly close between seven cars. 
• As Sutton went 6th with a move on Dan Lloyd on lap 14, the safety car was called for to recover minimal on-track debris. After a short interlude, the racing resumed as Sutton continued his move forwards, but at the front there was drama for the lead.
• Hill appeared to suffer some sort of power issue and Taylor-Smith pounced for the lead, while Hill dropped backwards. However, Taylor-Smith couldn’t hold on for victory as on lap 24, Sutton pounced to claim an outstanding victory. 
• The bad news for Sutton was that Ingram was also helped by the bunching up from the safety car and he managed to charge through to claim the final podium position in what was an incredible race, which saw 12th to 21st cross the line within a second of each other. 

Race Three: 6/10 – Colin Turkington, Tom Ingram, Ash Sutton

• Sutton pulled out ball 12 of Michael Crees for the reverse grid pole and he was joined at the front by Ronan Pearson, with a second row of Dans – Rowbottom and Lloyd, while Turkington and Cook completed the top six. 
• The opening lap was in chaotic keeping with others on the day as firstly Crees bogged down on the line allowing Pearson to briefly lead with Turkington nearly 2nd, before Rowbottom found a way through at the end of the lap. Behind them, Crees was sandwiched between Morgan and Butcher and after a slight rub, Morgan was sent sideways and across the track into Butcher, with them both going off into the barriers, yet Morgan remarkably kept going, although he got what seemed like a very harsh post-race penalty for the incident. 
• After a safety car period to recover Butcher’s Toyota, the racing resumed on lap 7 where Ingram made no mistake on Crees for 6th and Turkington out-braked Lloyd for 2nd. It didn’t take long for Turkington to lead as at the end of the next lap, he out-powered Rowbottom on the outside line. Ingram meanwhile, was also moving forward with a move on teammate Pearson for third. 
• Lap 14 saw Ingram take second from Rowbottom and a few laps later, Sutton continued to move forward by taking fourth from Pearson. However, NAPA didn’t tell Rowbottom to move out of the way and Sutton raced his teammate for several laps before taking the final podium position away from him, but Turkington was three seconds clear and he held on to take BMW’s 150th BTCC victory. 

Despite Sutton’s brace of podiums, the title race will continue at Brands Hatch GP thanks to Ingram’s own double podium, although Sutton did add three points to his lead. However, as has been clear for quite some time, it’s just a matter of when, not if. 

Sutton’s race two drive demonstrated how at one he has been with his car this season as he eased through the pack like a hot knife through butter. Whether he’d have been able to catch and overtake Hill would have been another matter, but it’s all ifs and buts. It was a champion’s drive. 

Race two was arguably the best race of the season. The action was fantastic. If only there had been more races like this, it would have been an amazing season. It was difficult to keep track of which driver was where, such were the constant overtakes and at the end to have so many cars within a second of each other was some spectacle. 

Whether the late safety car was necessary is more than debatable, but it did contribute to the race. Had there been no safety car, would Hill’s car have suffered its issue is again something we won’t know. However, as such, Hill’s tiny chance of a championship miracle ended, but he can be pleased with yet another excellent season. 

In the final meeting of the season, will NAPA claim yet another pole with Silverstone being the only blot on their copybook? Will Sutton secure his title with a win? Who will secure the manufacturers’ crown? Time will tell, but there isn’t long to wait until the next and final instalment of 2023’s championship. 

2023 BRITISH TOURING CAR CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS AFTER 27 RACES:

1.	Ashley Sutton	398 Points
2.	Tom Ingram	353
3.	Jake Hill	330
4.	Colin Turkington	293
5.	Josh Cook	237
6.	Dan Cammish	220