The three-time champion started his Motorbase Performance Ford Focus ST from second on the grid, but he was on the soft Goodyear tyre whereas pole-sitting team-mate Dan Cammish was on the medium compound.
Predictably, the extra grip helped Sutton get in front at the start, and he continued to pull away, setting the fastest lap along the way, to win by 7.682 seconds.
Cammish himself was untroubled, while Dan Rowbottom, also on the medium tyres, completed the second 1-2-3 of the day for the NAPA-liveried Fords.
Sutton paid tribute to set-up tweaks made on Saturday night at the behest of his engineer Antonio Carrozza, which he had resisted when Carrozza suggested them in qualifying.
“Those changes overnight have definitely worked and the car came alive on the soft tyre,” said Sutton.
“All cars come alive on the soft tyre, but that was something else.
“I got a nice launch on the soft, but I had to go late on the brakes into the first corner to make it stick on Dan.”
Source: Autosport