BTCC - Oulton Park: Hill stops Sutton charge to secure first win of 2023
Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport's Jake Hill has energised his British Touring Car Championship title charge after clinching his first win of the season ahead of the current leader Ash Sutton at Oulton Park.
Having secured his third consecutive pole position, NAPA Racing's Sutton looked set to maintain his rampant run of form from the front of the grid.
However, starting from second, Hill had other ideas and made a perfect launch to snatch the lead away from Sutton on the approach to turn one.
Predictably, Sutton didn't take the news lying down and hounded the rear of Hill's West Surrey Racing BMW 330e M Sport during the early stages of the race.
But, try as he may, three-time champion Sutton was unable to prize open a gap as Hill was inch perfect in the defence of his race lead.
Once Hill weathered the early storm, the BMW driver's pace saw him inch away from Sutton's Ford Focus. Hill eventually crossed the line almost two-seconds of Sutton, to record his first win of 2023.
As a result, Hill now moves up to third in the points standings, albeit almost 50-points adrift of runaway leader Sutton.
Sutton, attempting to secure an unprecedented fourth consecutive double victory, settled for second ahead defending champion Tom Ingram in third.
Ingram completed the podium order after moving his way up the order from sixth on the grid.
Toyota Gazoo Racing UK's Ricky Collard secured his best 'on-the-road' finish of the year in fourth, ahead of NAPA Racing UK's Dan Cammish in fifth.
One Motorsport's Josh Cook guided his Honda Civic Type-R home to a sixth-place finish, narrowly ahead of Team HARD's Bobby Thomspon in seventh.
Following a near race-long duel with his Team BMW stablemate Stephen Jelley, Adam Morgan took eighth, ahead of a mighty drive from four-time champion Colin Turkington in ninth.
Despite setting the seventh fastest time in qualifying, Turkington was forced to start race one from the very back of the grid after his BMW 330e M Sport failed the post-qualifying checks with insufficient fuel levels left in the car.
Nevertheless, in typical Turkington fashion, the Team BMW driver produced a sensational charge through the order from 27th on the grid.
Turkington's final victim Jelley completed the remainder of the top-ten order in tenth.
