Sutton, who holds a 42-point advantage over Tom Ingram in the rankings, sat on the bubble at the wheel of his Motorbase Performance Ford Focus ST during the last couple of minutes in qualifying on the National Circuit.
Rowbottom was one of those knocking on the door, and put in green times in the first two sectors on laps during his final run, only to never match his previous best in the final sector.
The bearded Midlander ended up 13th, and Sutton was through to Q2, where he vaulted up the order to qualify fifth.
“We were on the cusp of that,” Sutton told Autosport. “I think I owe ‘Rowbo’ a beer – he went green, and then he got a radio call…
“The drinks are on me for any night out in our lifetime!
“I’ve been chasing the balance, and we hadn’t quite got it where we wanted it. But we were tickling it, and chucked new front tyres at it for Q2.
“I’ll take fifth – I’d obviously prefer to be ahead of Tom and Jake [Ingram and Hill, his closest title rivals], but I’m happy that it’s as close as it is.”
With Hill ending up fourth, Sutton can now mathematically not be beaten in the Goodyear Wingfoot Award, where points are dished out for qualifying positions across the season.
Source: Autosport