RELIVE THE 2021 SEASON: ROUND 1
The season kicked off at Thruxton behind closed doors with an action-packed weekend of racing that included mixed weather conditions throughout.
Defending champion Ash Sutton put his Infiniti on pole on Saturday, but it was Jake Hill who ended the weekend holding the championship lead despite not making it onto the top step of the podium in the three races…
Race 1:
After Sutton was tipped into a spin at the complex on lap one by Colin Turkington, Josh Cook secured another win at Thruxton as he led the way for BTC Racing, seeing off the challenge of Tom Ingram on his debut in the EXCELR8 Hyundai.
Hill would round out the podium in third, with Sutton recovering to tenth after his spin – which then became ninth after a penalty for Turkington.
Gordon Shedden’s return ended early after a crash on lap one with Chris Smiley.
Race 2:
Cook doubled up in race two to lead a BTC Racing 1-2 ahead of Dan Cammish; called into the team for a weekend after the departure of Michael Crees.
Hill again took third whilst there were further issues for Sutton after he was forced to pit early on and dropped down the order before recovering through to ninth.
Andy Neate, Jade Edwards and Glynn Geddie were all eliminated in a huge shunt at turn one which would rule Neate and Geddie out of race three.
Race 3:
The return of rain saw drivers split between those running on slicks and those on wet.
The wet-shod cars shone early on before drivers on slicks were able to come through the field, including Hill and Tom Oliphant, but when the rain started to come down again it helped Sutton to grab the win.
Hill held second until Plato nipped ahead on the final lap.