After the second of two red-flag stoppages, Sutton slashed a huge chunk off his early ‘banker lap’ to beat the 2019 qualifying lap record held by Tom Ingram.
Sutton continued his massively spectacular progress – the Motorbase Performance Ford Focus ST wriggling around hugely underneath him – to snip off another tenth.
It left Sutton 0.342 seconds clear of the Excelr8 Motorsport Hyundai i30 N of reigning champion Tom Ingram.
Remarkably, it was Sutton’s first pole since the opening round of the 2021 season, and therefore his first with the NAPA-liveried Focus team, which has claimed all three poles this season with three different drivers – Dan Rowbottom, Dan Cammish and Sutton.
“It means a lot that one,” said Sutton. “I haven’t been on pole for a very very very long time.
“It’s been on the cards for the first two rounds, but at Donington we lost it to track limits, and at Brands Hatch we didn’t have a good tyre selection.
“I said to the boys and girls at the team, that’s the best touring car I’ve ever driven – the thing is on absolute rails and it allows me to do the Ash Sutton bit.
“There were a lot of lively moments, but everyone knows that’s how I drive!”
Source: Autosport