[adrotate banner=”10″]
Get 10% off all official F1 Merch at TheRaceWorks.com using code ‘EF1‘ at checkout.
Tom Ingram started Sunday at Oulton Park perfectly with a dominant drive. The Hyundai driver led every lap of the race and also set the BTCC lap record on the way to his 35th career win. As if things couldnt get any better for Ingram, he now leads the drivers championship by just a point from Ash Sutton heading into race two. Dan Cammish claimed a fifth podium of the season as he followed Ingram home from Chris Smiley in third position.
Sutton’s strategy sacrifice
It was an odd sight to see Ash Sutton falling away from teammate Dan Cammish dramatically on the last lap and staright into the clutches of Chris Smiley, relinquishing a third place finish. But, could the four time champion have played a blinder of a strategy which will set him up brilliantly for the rest of the day. With the BTCC’s race two tyre rules meaning the top three drivers from race one are required to start on the hard compound for race two. Sutton voluntarily dropping to fourth place means he will be able to use the soft tyre in race two and have a brilliant chance of foghting at the front.
Another motivation for Sutton is the rain that is forecast for race three. With Sutton predicted to use the soft in race two, this would leave him to use the hard tyres in race three. But if it rains, Sutton won’t be able to use the hard tyre and will have a huge advantage over his competitors.
Osbourne and Jelly collide on lap two and Hall picks up damage
Sam Osbourne and Stephen Jelly came together on the exit of the island hairpin as both collided with the barriers. The lack of runoff at Oulton Park came back to bite the pair but both managed to continue after the contact. The incident did bring the safety car out for some barrier repairs which bunched the field back up.
After the safety car came in, Max Hall picked up damage after contact at the Hislop chicane with teammate Dexter Patterson. It’s not the first time this season the pair have come together. But Hall came off worse, he suffered a broken rear toe link which ended his race.
The points scorers from BTCC Race one at Oulton Park:
1. Tom Ingram 2. Dan Cammish 3. Chris Smiley (Independant Winner) 4. Ash Sutton 5. Tom Chilton 6. Adam Morgan 7. Jake Hill 8. Senna Proctor 9. Josh Cook 10. James Dorlin (Jack Sears Winner) 11. Charles Rainford 12. Dan Lloyd 13. Aron Taylor-Smith 14. Daryl Deleon 15. Dan Rowbottom
Main Image Credit: BTCC