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British Touring Car Championship
Silverstone (National) - Race Report - 27/9/20

By MJP Media | 27 September 2020

In an amazing day at Silverstone all the championship leaders had dramas as well as successes.

Ash Sutton retains his title lead

Dan Cammish finally converted pole position into victory in the opening Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship race at Silverstone, but it wasn't without a huge scare as he took on his Thruxton nemesis Tom Ingram. The top five drivers in the standings occupied the top five places in this particular bout as the leading contenders produced a high-class contest, and with the dust still settling here at the Home of British Motor Racing, just 30 points separate them all in the race for the title.

Cammish held P1 off the line - something he struggled with in Hampshire last weekend - but he couldn't hang on for long as he and Toyota star Ingram swapped places twice on the opening tour. After a safety car bunched everyone up again it was back to square one in the battle for the race win and championship points, but Cammish claimed the win ahead of Tom Ingram. Behind these two Butcher was third, Turkington 4th and Sutton 5th. None of them were able to gain a real advantage in the title battle.

Dan Cammish and Matt Neal fight for the lead

Team BMW's Colin Turkington claimed the win in a sensational second race at Silverstone while a trio of title rivals all hit trouble. Pole-sitter Dan Cammish led off the line in the Halfords Yuasa Racing Honda Civic Type R but Toyota star Tom Ingram nipped into the lead before the end of the first lap. Earlier in that first lap, there was contact between championship leader Ash Sutton and Motorbase Performance's Rory Butcher at Becketts, which ultimately sent both tumbling down the order.

With those two out contention, Turkington set about attacking the #27 machine of Cammish ahead of him, and on lap nine he made a move stick on the exit of Woodcote. Second soon became first for the reigning champion as race leader Ingram suffered a puncture and further fortune followed as Sutton's recovery drive was also ended by a puncture - potentially picked up during the earlier incident with Butcher. Turkington had the win and re-took the lead of the Championship.

The championship leaders in Race 1

Race 3 saw Motorbase Performance driver Ollie Jackson win his first ever Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship race after coming out on top of a truly sensational contest at Silverstone.Laser Tools Racing's Ash Sutton went from 26th to second by the finish, although he was later relegated post-race to third, which was just one of many amazing stories in the reverse-grid finale. The action commenced in dramatic fashion with one of the biggest accidents in recent years The #6 machine of Butcher had slid across the grass at high speed, before making heavy impact with the barrier and rolling wildly back onto the circuit.

Thankfully, Butcher immediately emerged relatively unscathed from the incident - testament to the safety of the BTCC cars. It was a frightening accident involving Neal and Butcher, however, that brought out the red flags with barrier damage and his stricken car needing to be removed. This was one of those moments that the usually packed grandstands would have been on its collective feet as Jackson crossed the line to take a hugely popular victory from Sutton and Oliphant. The final two podium positions were reversed post-race, however, when Sutton was adjudged to have gained an unfair advantage during his battle with Oliphant. With Turkington only 10th, this meant Sutton was back on top of the standings.

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