Butcher wins BTCC finale, Sutton claims second championship title
Rory Butcher eased to victory in the final Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship race of the season as Ash Sutton sealed his second drivers’ title with a sixth place finish.
As the lights went out, Butcher made a good start from third on the grid to seize second from Chris Smiley into Paddock Hill Bend. He then made short work of pole sitter Aiden Moffat to gain the race lead before the end of the first lap.
Colin Turkington made a good start to sit fifth in the early stages whilst Sutton made a more cautious start and was 12th; however this still would have been good enough to give Sutton the title.
Butcher disappeared into the distance accruing a near four second lead at the start of lap five, with Josh Cook up to second.
Further back, the wet weather was again hampering Turkington and both Tom Ingram and Dan Cammish made their way past him, demoting him to seventh.
Sutton meanwhile, began to find his rhythm and worked his way into eighth as he dispatched team-mate Moffat and Ollie Jackson in quick succession. This put him right on the bumper of title rival Turkington.
On lap 11, Cook and Jake Hill collided at Surtees which promoted Adam Morgan and Ingram into second and third. Both survived, with Hill resuming fourth and Cook sixth as Cammish split the pair in fifth.
Two laps later, Ingram dived down the inside of Morgan at Graham Hill Bend to take second and set off in pursuit of Butcher who at this point had a near seven second lead.
On lap 15, Cammish clumsily clouted into the side of Morgan allowing himself and Hill to get past and therefore demoted the Mercedes driver to fifth.
Five laps from the end, Sutton finally got a run on Turkington out of Clearways and swept past at Paddock Hill Bend, effectively ending the title battle.
Turkington’s woes were soon added to as Moffat followed his team-mate through shortly afterwards.
At the front, Ingram’s relentless pursuit of Butcher continued but he just ran out of laps as the Scot took the flag 1.5 seconds clear of the Toyota driver.
Hill was third after getting the better of Cammish in the latter stages, forcing the works Honda driver to settle for fourth.
Morgan was fifth in the final outing of his Mercedes A Class with Sutton sixth as he clinched the championship.
Cook was seventh after fading late in the race, ahead of Moffat, the struggling Turkington and Jackson who rounded out the top ten.