BTCC Knockhill 2023 | 5 talking points

1. Rain wreaks havoc at Knockhill

Not for the first time this season, the weather gods had a major part to play in the outcome of a race result. The opening race of the day saw the rain come down after starting under sunny skies, in a scene reminiscent of the season opener at Donington Park. On that occasion, it was those who made the choice to dive for the pits early who came out on top, and it was the case once again at Knockhill.

The first few laps of the race looked like we were going to be treated to yet another excellent battle between Ash Sutton and Josh Cook – two best friends who leave nothing on the track when running door-to-door. Cook came out on top in the early stages, after Sutton ran his Ford Focus slightly wide at the chicane, briefly lost control and slid into the side of Cook’s Honda Civic Type-R, handing the One Motorsport driver the lead. However, when they approached the hairpin for the sixth time, they were greeted with a sudden deluge which gradually made its way across the rest of the circuit.

Most of the front runners tried to stay out as long as possible on slick tyres, the result of which saw both Cook and Sutton twitching through Duffus Dip and saw the Honda spearing off the circuit and into a tyre wall. Meanwhile, reigning champion Tom Ingram led the first of those into the pits to fit wet-weather tyres. With the field totally jumbled, an incident for Jade Edwards brought out the safety car, leaving those still on slicks sitting ducks. Sutton dove for the pits, and dropped down the order – although only dropping as far as seventh thanks to the number of drivers who had fallen off the lead lap in the pits courtesy of the short nature of Knockhill. 

A two-lap dash to the line ensued, thanks to a further safety car period, Tom Ingram, Jake Hill and Tom Chilton (who won the wet Donington Park race also after pitting early) crossed the line for the podium results. However, the two Hyundai i30s of Toms Ingram and Chilton would be excluded shortly after, having failed the post-race ride height check. This promoted Andrew Watson to second for his first BTCC podium and Stephen Jelley inherited third.

That would not be the end of the rain’s involvement, either. As the field lined up for the third and final race of the day, it teemed down like a tap had been opened. Such was the severity of the downpour that the race was delayed and eventually began after five laps behind the safety car.

The stage seemed set for Ronan Pearson to take a hugely popular home win in race three, having started from the reverse grid pole. An instructor at Knockhill, there are few who know the track as well as the Excelr8 driver, and he held the lead for a good portion of the race before he eventually succumbed to the charging Ford Focus of Ash Sutton and Josh Cook a couple of laps later. Pearson then had to step aside for team-mate Ingram (who admitted it was "horrible" having to pass the young Scot in that manner), denying him a podium in front of the home crowd.

2. BTCC needs to rethink lapped cars under safety car

Throughout the madness that was race one, what should have been an exciting two-lap dash to the finish instead saw Tom Ingram restart the race followed by Dan Lloyd, who was already a lap down. This happened just a few minutes after only a group of about eight cars had taken the green flag previously. In a championship that is built around making a spectacle for fans both at the circuit and at home, it seems a bit of an own goal to not have sorted out the running order before the race restarted. 

There will be arguments that it would have taken too long to sort or that it gives those that were a lap down an unfair advantage in that it penalises those that had stayed out – but is that a worse option than a backmarker denying a straight fight for the win? Lapped cars in the BTCC are admittedly a rarity, but with another short circuit in Silverstone still to come, and particularly at this stage of the season with so much on the line, you'd like to see a title won or lost through a straight fight and not a confused safety car restart.

3. Ingram takes BTCC title hit after Excelr8 exclusions 

Leaving Croft, reigning champion Tom Ingram seemed to have been given a lifeline in the title hunt, closing the gap to just six points. Fast forward to Scotland, taking the chequered flag for victory in race one and with Ash Sutton losing out in the rain, the Hyundai driver found himself with a four-point lead at the top of the table. That lead officially lasted for about 15 minutes, although in reality he probably knew it was gone as soon as he rolled into the pits and the ride height testing device failed to travel freely under his car – the telltale sign for an impending penalty.

Ingram and team-mate Chilton both failed the check and found themselves thrown out of the results, promoting Hill to race winner and Sutton into fifth. As a result, instead of a four-point lead, Ingram now found himself 25 points off the top of the table. By the end of race two, he’d dropped to third in the standings, tied on points with the BMW of Jake Hill.

Third in race three was something of a consolation prize for Ingram, after team-mate Ronan Pearson left the door wide open for him on the final lap. It was more damage limitation than something to celebrate, though, as Sutton drove to a commanding victory, leaving Ingram some 35 points behind the three-time champion.

4. Rob Huff makes BTCC return

One of the biggest talking points going into the Scottish weekend was the return to the BTCC paddock of 2012 World Touring Car Champion Rob Huff. The current TCR World Series driver was substituting for Nicolas Hamilton at Team HARD, who missed his second consecutive meeting of 2023 having also sat out of Croft. Huff last made an appearance in the BTCC in 2017 on a one-off appearance in a Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall and showed his class by taking a podium in the final race of the day. 

Knowing it would be a tough task to replicate that form and to get used to all the new bells and whistles of a BTCC car, not least the hybrid boost, the expectations were a little more modest on this occasion. With nothing to lose, Huff was one of the first to pit when the rain came down in race one, launching himself up the field and into a points-paying position. He just about held on to cross the line in 15th and earn a single point, later boosted to 13th and an additional two points thanks to the Excelr8 double disqualification. 

A solid drive in race two saw Huff hold on despite some fast chargers in his mirrors, coming home in 14th for another two points to his 2023 tally. Retirement in the sodden race three ended the comeback on a sour note, but there is already talk that this may not be the last we see of the World Champion in a BTCC paddock in the near future.

5. Ash Sutton makes the most of a tough weekend

For much of this year, it’s been fairly clear that Ash Sutton and the NAPA Racing UK Ford Focus are a cut above the rest. It’s not quite Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing levels of dominance, but it’s not that far off. Had it not been for two unlucky/clumsy (delete depending on which side of the fence you fall on) incidents resulting in retirements, Sutton’s hold on the points standings would be much tighter than it currently is.

Where luck may have eluded him at times earlier in the season, it was certainly on his side in Scotland. Not wanting to risk losing his lead in the dry-wet race one, Sutton left it as late as possible to pit, only diving for the pits once the safety car was deployed, prompting Tim Harvey to shout “too late!”. The short nature of the Knockhill layout worked in his favour though, and was still able to hold on to fifth after the Hyundai ride height failures.

Twice in the afternoon, Sutton found himself with the track simply opening up ahead of him while those in front battled and pushed each other wide. On both occasions, Sutton was able to slide past two cars and put himself up in second place. In race two there was no beating Jake Hill’s BMW, but Sutton was a man on a mission in the final race, passing Ronan Pearson around the halfway stage and coming away with a mammoth (in BTCC terms) 35-point lead at the top of the standings ahead of Ingram.

A poor race three for Jake Hill sees him now sit 11 points back from Ingram and 50 points away from Sutton, while Turkington sits 81 points back from the championship leader. Considering there is a maximum of 67 points available each race weekend, and only three weekends remaining, it seems Sutton may well have one hand on the trophy already.

In the subsidiary points tables, NAPA Racing UK holds a 119-point lead in the teams’ table over Excelr8, while BMW is 11 points clear of Ford in the Manufacturers/Constructors standings. Josh Cook and One Motorsport continue with their stranglehold on the Independents tables, with 93 and 39-point leads respectively. Finally, just one point separates Mike Doble and Andrew Watson at the top of the Jack Sears Trophy standings.

The series returns in two weeks for its first visit to the Grand Prix circuit at Donington Park in 20 years. While on paper it should be a weekend that suits the rear-wheel-drive BMWs, all eyes will be on Ash Sutton to see whether he can consolidate, or even extend, his huge lead at the top of the table.

Images courtesy of Motorsport Images