The 2025 British Touring Car Championship returned following its summer break with the next three rounds at Croft. The first half of the season has setup what is realistically a two horse race for the championship between Ash Sutton and Tom Ingram, with just ten points between them. The duo are over sixty points clear of the NAPA Dans, Cammish and Rowbottom, in third and fourth. 

Going into Croft, One Motorsport announced they would miss the next two rounds due to their owner being unwell, meaning there was no Josh Cook, but Stephen Jelley did appear in an Un-limited Motorsport Cupra. Reigning champion, Jake Hill, also had to withdraw from the event on Saturday afternoon with an ear infection and while four-time champ, Colin Turkington, appeared in FP2, he felt unprepared to take over for the rest of the weekend. 

Qualifying

After topping both FP1 and FP2, it was little surprise to see Ingram top the times in qualifying. He was joined on the front row by Cammish, with Mikey Doble and Tom Chilton on the second row. The top six was completed by Rowbottom and Dan Lloyd with Sutton down in 11th. 

Race One, 4/10 – Tom Ingram, Dan Cammish, Senna Proctor

• Ingram was able to power away from the line on a relatively dry track, while the main action behind on the opening lap was the progress of Senna Proctor who made five places from eighth on the grid, with his last pass being on Doble. 
• There was further distress for Doble on lap 3 as he turned himself around after the chicane, but he was able to continue after a light bump with the barriers. 
• By lap 5, Ingram was 1.5s clear of Cammish, although there was some boost cat and mouse at play as the intervals changed. After some early moves, Sutton was stagnant in seventh. 
• A lap 10 incident between Chris Smiley and Gordon Shedden brought out the safety car to recover Smiley’s car, but as the race was about to resume, Sutton had to pull into the pits with a puncture, meaning he finished in 20th. 
• On the restart, Ingram managed the pace and gap to Cammish expertly as he crossed the line to secure maximum points en route to his third victory of the season.

Race Two,  4.5/10 – Dan Rowbottom, Tom Chilton, Daryl DeLeon

• On an exciting opening lap, the leaders were away well with Rowbottom claiming third from Proctor and the BMWs of Charles Rainford and Daryl DeLeon were challenging each other. Sutton, meanwhile, made five places on the opening circuit of the race. 
• Cammish put up little resistance as his faster teammate Rowbottom, on the favourable soft tyres, overtook him on the second lap and Chilton followed shortly after. Proctor was struggling and lost several places that was later compounded by a 10s penalty.
• On lap 3, the overtaking duo were met with little resistance from Ingram too as they took first and second. DeLeon and Adam Morgan were also on a upward trajectory and after passing Cammish, they duly set their sights on Ingram, who couldn’t stop them. 
• As Ingram dropped down, Sutton continued to move forward and the pair exchanged places on lap 8, with Sutton eventually being stopped in fifth position. 
• At the front, while the top three were close, they weren’t bumper to bumper and Rowbottom took the chequered flag to the delight of his NAPA crew. 

Race Three, 7.5/10 – Ash Sutton, Tom Ingram, Senna Proctor

• Aiden Moffat, ninth in the second race, was drawn on pole for the final race of the day, meaning he lined up alongside Ingram, with Shedden and Rainford behind them, before Sutton. 
• A crazy opening from the lights going out ensued as Ingram immediately pressured Moffat, before having a huge slide that he majestically held on to. Rainford momentarily went second, before Sutton joined the party, while Shedden was desperate to pick up the pieces of any incident.  
• At the end of the second lap, the grid was still compact and when Cammish tried a move on Rainford, he was tapped and went zooming across the grass before clattering DeLeon and Smiley, which naturally resulted in a safety car period. 
• On the re-start the action was straight back at a maximum level as Moffat tried to get away, Sutton and Ingram battled and after Sutton missed the chicane, Ingram had a better run on him to Tower and took second. However, as the leading pack came to the hairpin at the end of the lap, while Moffat defended from Ingram, Sutton tapped Shedden wide and somehow came out ahead of all of them! Proctor also enjoyed all of the action as he was now fourth. 
• A few laps later, Proctor passed Ingram and buoyed by this, he tried a move on Moffat for second, but ended up tapping him off, although he did return to sixth. He didn’t remain in second as Ingram came back at him on lap 13 at the hairpin, but Sutton was already up the road.
• With a few laps remaining, there was bad news for Nic Hamilton, who had been running well in 12th, as he had to retire, while there was some humour as Rainford circuited with a traffic cone in his front grille, but this made no difference to Sutton who secured season win number five of an excellent season. 

Business as usual for the leading duo at Croft? Seemed that way. However, after Sutton’s puncture in race one, it does mean that Ingram now leads the championship at the end of a race weekend for the first time this season, as he turned a ten point deficit into an eight point advantage. The pair did extend their advantage over the rest of the field though, with Rowbottom now being seventy points behind Sutton. 

While the leading duo continued to be a class above with their drives, some of the other regular 2025 season events continued with the top three cars on hard tyres massively struggling in races two and three, creating overtakes. Boost continued to show its usefulness as well, with plenty of drivers having good lap times when using it or pressing the button to help with passing. 

The next meeting will be at Knockhill and every little advantage will be needed on the short, yet tricky, circuit. Given that Ingram and Sutton have to deploy the boost at higher speeds for a reduced amount of time, it will be interesting to see where they qualify. However, given the form of the pair this season, it wouldn’t surprise anyone to see them coming through the pack to secure a positive result. 

One man who has had plenty of positive results since retuning to the series is Proctor and he once again impressed at Croft. After being out of the BTCC for a few years, he looks rejuvenated and has only had one finish outside of the top nine since his return. Although he is obviously racing for his own benefit and his sponsors, he could be an important ally to Ingram going into the rest of the season. 

Sutton has great support from teammates Rowbottom and Cammish, who would clearly help him, and have done so in the past, but Ingram has lacked a more regular support partner, although Chilton does try. Now Proctor is back in the mix and driving so well, it could be an important cog for Ingram’s championship tilt. We will find out if it continues in Scotland. 

2025 BRITISH TOURING CAR CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER 18 OF 30 ROUNDS

1.	Tom Ingram	273 points
2.	Ashley Sutton	265
3.	Dan Rowbottom	195
4.	Dan Cammish	184
5.	Tom Chilton	150
6.	Adam Morgan	150