Wrotham-based Motorbase Performance enjoyed a clean sweep of victories as the British Touring Car Championship continued at Thruxton.

Ford Focus driver Ash Sutton claimed his fifth and sixth wins of the season in races one and two, before team-mate Dan Rowbottom got his first win of 2023 in race three. Sutton now holds a 14-point lead in his quest for a record-equalling fourth BTCC title.

Motorbase top the manufacturers/constructors’ standings, while their NAPA Racing outfit lead the team competition

“The car is just phenomenal and is just a joy to drive,” said Sutton. “It’s so rare you get this. I can’t thank the boys and girls enough at Motorbase. It’s just mega.

“I just had to maximise the beginning as we’ve been strong there for the past few races. I was hoping there might be a bit more squabbling behind, but Tom [Ingram] hung in there and [Josh] Cook was closing the gap to him and that gave me the space we needed.

“Looking after that tyre is a challenge around here. The car is good, very good, but these tyres do take a beating.”

Starting race one on pole, Sutton kept Tom Ingram (Bristol Street Motors) and Josh Cook (One Motorsport with Starline Racing) at arm’s length to win by 2.5sec with Platt’s Heath’s Jake Hill (BMW) fourth.

NAPA Racing’s Dan Cammish came from ninth on the grid to fifth, although Rowbottom wasn’t so lucky as a late puncture halted his charge and he finished 24th, Sam Osborne was 21st in the final Motorbase car.

Sutton pulled out a gap of nearly a second on the opening lap of race two on his way to a third double of the season and sixth victory overall.

It was the usual suspects in pursuit, Ingram, Cook and Hill completing the top four, with Cammish again fifth, Rowbottom 11th and Osborne 18th.

Rowbottom then rounded off an incredible weekend for NAPA Racing as he won the reverse grid race - his second BTCC career victory.

Adam Morgan (BMW) led the field from pole position while Rowbottom was busy making progress from fifth to third.

On lap five he dispatched Moffat’s Honda Civic Type R through the Complex and he took six tenths of a second out of Morgan’s advantage on the next lap.

The gap kept shrinking and Rowbottom made his move down the inside of Morgan’s BMW 330e M Sport before the cars reached Church on lap 10.

Morgan held on to second while Moffat defended valiantly to fend off Team BMW’s Turkington to complete the podium. Cammish was eighth, Sutton was 12th and Osborne 20th.

Hill, meanwhile, is still to open his account this season after last year’s title challenge,

"It was sensible points this weekend, but not what I was hoping for," he said.

“It’s incredibly hard to pass at a track like Thruxton when the cars you’re around all have similar pace. You get in behind another car and you just lose the front grip and that keeps you bogged down in the pack.

“We need a performance lift for Oulton and a way to close the gap to the front. It’s not a big lift, but we need something because it’s not easy to fight for wins right now.”

The next round of the championship is at Oulton Park on June 17-18.