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Sutton led the field from pole position in Race 1, ahead of the reigning BTCC champion Ingram in the Hyundai i30 into Allard. The front pair built a gap on the opening lap of the 16-lap event ahead of One Motorsport with Starline Racing's Josh Cook at a very hot Thruxton in Hampshire.
An incident occurred at the Club chicane three laps into the race as Tom Chilton clattered into the BMW 330e M Sport of Stephen Jelley. Sam Osborne and Nick Halstead had nowhere to go and got caught up in the incident, effectively ending their hopes of a top-10 finish before the race started in earnest.
With 10 laps to go, Sutton continued to build a sizeable advantage in the lead as Ingram came under increasing pressure from Cook's Honda Civic Type R for second place. Rowbottom pitted with nine laps gone for a new front left tyre after suffering from vibrations — a bad start to the day for the NAPA Racing UK driver, who sat sixth in the standings before Race 1.
After 16 tours of the circuit, Sutton took a dominant victory in Race 1 at Thruxton ahead of Ingram as Cook finished third and rounded out the podium.
The championship leader began Race 2 from pole position in his Ford Focus ST ahead of Ingram for the second time at Thruxton. The 29-year-old got a great start and led into Allard as Cook resisted a challenge from Jake Hill's Team BMW for third place.
Two laps in, Will Powell hit the wall at Allard, retiring from the race with damage to the front of his Honda Civic Type R, but the Safety Car wasn't required, much to Sutton's benefit.
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A couple of laps later, the two-pronged attack from Cook and Hill challenged Ingram's Hyundai i30 for second place. However, the rear-wheel drive BMW of Hill lacked the raw speed to keep up with Cook and found himself outside of striking distance halfway through the 16-lap race in P4.
Elsewhere, Colin Turkington was enduring a mediocre day by his lofty standards and piled the pressure on Rory Butcher's Toyota Corolla GR Sport for sixth place. Turkington finally snatched P6 from Butcher on the last lap to gain an extra valuable championship point.
At the front, Sutton took his second dominant win of the day at Thruxton and the fastest lap point ahead of Ingram and Cook in a carbon copy podium of Race 1.
Adam Morgan benefitted from the reverse grid draw ahead of Race 3 and started on pole position for Team BMW. The pole sitter perfected the start and led comfortably into Allard, ahead of Aiden Moffat's Honda Civic Type R.
Ricky Collard sat in third place for Toyota Gazoo Racing UK before being passed by Rowbottom's Ford Focus ST at Seagrave two laps into the 16-lap event. Collard returned the favour a lap later and snatched the place from the NAPA Racing UK driver before making a minor error, eventually dropping behind Turkington to P5.
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More overtakes were completed at the complex five laps into Race 3, as Rowbottom swept past Moffat at Cobb to take second place as Morgan stretched his advantage up front. A queue of cars formed behind Moffat in third place — the 26-year-old lacked the outright speed to match Rowbottom and Morgan's lap times.
Rowbottom and his Ford Focus ST relentlessly hunted down Morgan to go within half a second with 11 laps gone and dove up the inside at Church to take the lead. Once clear, Rowbottom controlled the race in the closing laps to take victory and NAPA Racing UK's third victory at Thruxton. Morgan finished third in his BMW 330e M Sport, and Moffat came home third.
The championship resumes in a fortnight for a Cheshire trip to Oulton Park on 17–18 June.
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