BTCC Snetterton, back to back wins for Colin Turkington as Ollie Jackson picks up race 3 victory.

Credit: BTCC.

The penultimate round of the 2020 BTCC rolls into Snetterton in the South East of England,once again held behind closed doors without spectators.

Colin Turkington snatched pole position for race 1 on Sunday, needing a good weekend of results to strengthen his championship defence,

Starting from the pole, Turkington put the rear wheel drive traction of his BMW to good use off the line, leaping away from Jake Hill’s Honda who lost ground and was swallowed up by Tom Ingram’s Toyota Corolla, who then attempted to pass Turkington but was edged out wide allowing Jake Hill back through into second briefly. The pair collided at Hamilton’s, allowing Ingram back through.

Ingram applied pressure to Turkington in the early running, but as the tyre wear started coming into play Turkington was able to slowly edge away from Ingram’s Toyota. Hill was able to catch back up to Ingram’s Toyota, an optimistic move by Hill saw his Honda clatter into the side of Ingram’s Toyota who sent wide as Hill’s Honda snuck through. Hill would allow Ingram back through to prevent any post-race penalties for gaining an advantage through contact.

Ash Sutton further back endured a scrappy race, colliding with Ollie Jackson at the start and had a fright when Tom Oliphant’s BMW 330 spun in front of Sutton & the chasing pack. Sutton, Rory Butcher & Dan Cammish would duke it out, but it would be Butcher who would win out as best of the rest.

Turkington’s commanding lights to flag victory strengthened his championship defence. Tom Ingram finished 2nd with Jake Hill in 3rd, Rory Butcher 4th & Ash Sutton in 5th.

Colin Turkington started race 2 from the pole and picked up where he left off in race 1, setting sail and doing what he does best. Gapping the field and holding steady and bringing it home. Once again, Tom Ingram desperately trying to chase down Turkington’s BMW. Ingram found himself coming under immense pressure from Rory Butcher with the chasing pack of Ash Sutton, Dan Cammish, Jake Hill & Josh Cook lined up behind.

Jack Goff brought the safety car out as he clattered into the barriers, badly damaging his VW Passat. Butcher and Ingram after the restart collided and ran wide, it would be the first time the two would tangle. Sutton was able to sneak into third but couldn’t quite get past Ingram’s Toyota. 

Colin Turkington made it two out two with Tom Ingram once again finishing in 2nd place. Ash Sutton finished 3rd ahead of Rory Butcher in 4th with Jake Hill rounding out the top five.

Colin Turkington, Credit: BTCC.

Race 3 would see Chris Smiley start from pole position as a result of the reverse grid draw. Once again, another opportunity for Smiley to grab his first win in the Hyundai i30N. Jack Goff meanwhile was able to get his crash damaged Passat on the grid for race 3, following his heavy crash in race 2. Team HARD pulling out all the stops to get the car ship shape for the final race of the day.

Chris Smiley had a torrid start, swallowed up by the pack and dropping down to fourth after the start. Adam Morgan roared into the lead with Ollie jackson pressuring Morgan. Jackson swept round the outside of Morgan. Further back, Josh Cook & Dan Cammish came to grief. Cammish with damage to the rear of his Honda & Cook with damage to the front left of his Honda, shedding debris as he made his way round Snetterton’s sweeping corners.

Ash Sutton jumped up into fifth place, desperate to make ground to reel in Turkington’s points advantage. Rory Butcher snuck into third after taking Smiley’s Hyundai on the inside at Agostini. Joe Osborne meanwhile retired on the spot, running on the grass and hitting a dip in the grass, wrenching the splitter off his Honda and throwing mud all over the track.

Tom Ingram, Chris Smiley & Ash Sutton went threewide, making contact and seeing Ingram gain three places, it all started as Sutton dive bombed Smiley and was unable to make the pass, creating the opportunity for Ingram. Smiley was rapidly becoming a cork in the bottle for the chasing Ash Sutton, Turkington et al, running a fiendishly defensive race and backing everyone else up.

Sutton briefly got ahead of Smiley, but the following corner nerfed Sutton wide allowing Turkington to get past both drivers and Dan Cammish to jump ahead of an exasperated Sutton. Smiley’s overly defensive driving eventually saw him rear ended by Dan Cammish and fired off into the scenery.

The battle for the lead meanwhile closed up, Jackson slowly being reeled in by Adam Morgan’s Mercedes A class and a hard charging Rory Butcher. 

The final corner saw drama as Tom Ingram nerfed Rory Butcher wide for 3rd place, sending Butcher across the grass. Karma waved her magic wand as an out of control Butcher speared Ingram’s Toyota, dropping Ingram down to 8th.

Ollie Jackson took a well deserved win with Adam Morgan in 2nd. Colin Turkington and Ash Sutton finished in 3rd & 4th, benefitting from the final corner mayhem while Rory Butcher rounded out the top 5.

Ollie Jackson, Credit: BTCC.

Colin Turkington will head into the final round at Brands Hatch on November 14th-15th with a 9 point advantage over Ash Sutton and a 25 point gap to Dan Cammish and 34 points back to Tom Ingram, setting the stage for a titanic showdown. Until next time, stay safe.

Championship standings

  1. Colin turkington – 309 points
  2. Ashley Sutton – 300 points
  3. Dan Cammish – 284 points
  4. Tom Ingram – 275 points
  5. Rory Butcher – 246 points
Colin Turkington, Credit: BTCC.

 

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