Croft plays host to round 7 of the BTCC, seeing the championship heading north once more. Josh Cook stormed to a commanding pole position in his FK8 Honda Civic Type R for race 1 on Sunday, but not after drama, with Tom Ingram initially taking pole, but losing it due to a ride height infringement. The Saturday morning saw drama as Jac Constable, slated to drive the PMR Vauxhall Astra fell ill overnight on Friday and as a result withdrew from driving duties, leaving the grid one car down. Racing 24-7 wishes Jac a speedy recovery.
Cook started race one from pole, Cook, Jake Hill & Colin Turkington set sail at the head of the field, pulling away from the chasing pack. Turkington struggled to hold on to Cook & Hill as the race wore on, his BMW heavy with ballast compared to the respective Honda Civic Type-R’s of Hill & Cook. As the leading Honda’s traded fastest laps, Cook was able to hold on for victory taking a long overdue win after a difficult season.
Ash Sutton & Rory butcher, battling further down the order, made contact with one another, although they didn’t lose any significant time and were able to come home in fourth and fifth positions, but not before Sutton had to fight his way back up the order with Butcher following their contact earlier in the race.
Race 2 saw plenty of drama. Whilst Josh Cook romped home to a second victory, it was decided post race. Matt Neal made contact with Cook and Neal’s initial victory was snatched away via a penalty and given to Cook, the move was deemed unsportsman-like.
Drama would break out further down the order as Colin Turkington outbraked himself into turn one, burying his BMW 330 in the gravel. An uncharacteristic error on the part of the 4 time champion. Rory Butcher came to grief as well, spinning off track and getting stuck in the kitty litter much like Turkington. Ash Sutton was struck by bad luck as well, battling with Jake Hill, Sutton stuffed it down the inside of Hill’s Honda at the final corner. The resulting contact saw Sutton pick up a puncture straight away, dropping him out of the points.
Josh Cook claimed victory in adverse circumstances with Matt Neal in second, Jake Hill in third, Tom Ingram in fourth & Dan Cammish in fifth, bolstering his championship chances as his rivals tripped up. Tom Chilton would start race 3 from pole position after being drawn in the reverse grid draw race.
The final race of the day saw a spectacular show of pace and zeal from Tom Ingram in his Toyota Corolla, charging through the order to take a commanding win, redemption after clinching pole position but losing it due to a ride height issue. Tom Chilton who started from the pole was unable to convert it into a win and spent most of the race battling with Dan Cammish. Chilton was unable to resist the charging Cammish who was able to sneak past and finish in second with Chilton in third.
Drama struck mid race as Bobbie Thompson rolled his Audi S3 into the Croft infield, Thompson was thankfully unhurt, but hid Audi S3 was far worse for wear as a result. As the race resumed, Matt Neal was able to take a strong fourth place finish while Ash Sutton scythed his way up the order to finish in fifth, keeping him at the head of the championship heading into the penultimate round at Snetterton on October 24th-25th, until next time, stay safe.
Championship Standings.
- Ash Sutton – 261 points
- Dan Cammish – 254 points
- Colin Turkington – 249 points
- Tom Ingram – 232 points
- Rory Butcher – 209 points
