BTCC: Croft victories for Sutton, Turkington, M. Jackson
Ashley Sutton (Team BMR/Adrian Flux Subaru Racing), Colin Turkington (West Surrey Racing/Team BMW) and Mat Jackson (Motorbase Performance/team Shredded Wheat with Duo) are the race winners of three races of the fifth round of the 2017 British Touring Car Championship at Croft Circuit.
Ashley Sutton – race 1 winner at Croft
Sutton was leading from lights to pole for his third win
In the first race, Ashley Sutton started from pole in the #116 Subaru Levorg GT. In the 15-lap race, he was fighting against two-time champion and ‘King of Croft’ Colin Turkington, crossing the finish line 0.671 seconds ahead of Turkington’s #4 BMW 125i M Sport. Experienced Turkington tried several times to pass by but the young Subaru star Sutton defended his lead to score his second win of the season and the third BTCC win in a career.
The final podium position went to Mat Jackson, who was also the best-placed among independent drivers. Rob Collard’s BMW crossed the finish line in the fourth place, ahead of Gordon Shedden’s Honda. The third BMW in the top 6 was the #77 car of Andrew Jordan.
Race 2 winner – Colin Turkington
Third win of the season and 44th career’s win for Turkington
After the Race 2, Turkington and Sutton switched places on the podium. Turkington catches his third win of the season and 44th win in a career after he passed pole-sitter Sutton during the opening lap. Rob Collard was behind the leading duo and that order remained unchanged until the end of the race.
The trio pulled away from the chasing pack. Turkington managed to build an advantage of over two seconds while Collard was trying to attack Sutton but without success. The reigning champion Gordon Shedden finished fourth, with a comfortable gap over Andrew Jordan. Jason Plato was sixth, followed by Mat Jackson, Rob Austin and Ollie Jackson.
Mat Jackson, Race 3 winner at Croft
Mat Jackson is eighth different winner in 2017
In the reversed grid lottery, Ollie Jackson was rewarded with a pole position for Race 3. He defended a lead at the start but the race was interrupted with Safety Car intervention because few cars were involved in the accident. At the restart, Mat Jackson and Ollie Jackson had a contact which resulted with a big slide for pole-sitter and he dropped to P9.
Mat Jackson inherited a lead and remained in front until the end to score his first win of the season and 31st win in a career. Ashley Sutton was the fastest among the chasers, trying to attack Jackson in the last corner of the last lap. Instead of taking the lead, Sutton went off to grass, so he has to be satisfied with a second place. Rob Austin finished on the podium after an intense fight against Jason Plato.
Check the full results of BTCC races at Croft
After 15 races, Gordon Shedden remains in the championship lead with 188 points. Rob Collard has 177, one more than Colin Turkington. Ashley Sutton follows in the fourth place, with 168 points on his account.
The next round is scheduled for Snetterton on July 30.
Photos: btcc.net,
