Motorbase Performance NAPA Racing’s Ash Sutton described his 2023 ride as the best touring car he has ever driven after a win double at Snetterton.

Sutton, winner of the last two races in the previous round at Brands Hatch, continued from where he left off for the Wrotham-based squad, setting the pace in races one and two in Norfolk before last year’s champion, Tom Ingram, scored his first victory of 2023 in race three.

Platt’s Heath’s Jake Hill ran Sutton close in race one, where he was less than three tenths of a second behind, before finishing second to the three-time champion again in race two.

Sutton, who now leads the standings by seven points, said: “The car was on absolute rails. I said to the boys and girls at NAPA Racing that this is the best touring car I’ve ever driven.

“We had to pounce at the starts, as we know how long it can take for the rear-wheel drive cars to get the tyres up to temperature.

“We haven’t changed the car since Brands Hatch and it’s just working so well. There might be days where it doesn’t quite feel like this, but for now it’s just mega.”

Sutton’s win in the opening race was the 30th of his BTCC career, but Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport BMW’s Hill made it an exciting finish.

Starting from pole position, Sutton had already pulled out a three-second gap in as many laps, but a fight for the lead materialised when Hill made an opportunistic move past Colin Turkington for second in the closing stages.

Hill’s pace was blistering as he hauled in Sutton’s Ford Focus. Unfortunately for the Kent driver he ran out of time with the pair separated by just 0.270sec at the chequered flag with Turkington third.

Race two was a lights-to-flag win for Sutton without pressure as both he and his car worked in harmony around the Snetterton 300 layout. Hill and Turkington ran line astern to complete the podium once more.

Sutton missed out on a hat-trick of podiums in race three’s reverse grid battle, finishing fourth, while Hill was 10th but pleased with his weekend’s work with his points haul leaving him fifth in the standings.

“Overall it’s been a good day,” he said. “The BMW’s been quick in races one and two and even in the last race I don’t think we could have done any better with the hard tyre.

“It’s strange because I feel a bit disheartened with two second places just because the car that won was uncatchable. But on the whole two seconds is great and we move on to Thruxton where I’ve been strong for the past few years and aim to get the first win of 2023 there.”

Motorbase/NAPA top the manufacturers and teams’ standings but there were mixed results for Sutton’s NAPA team-mates, with Dan Cammish - 11th in races one and two - disqualified from second place in the day’s final race after failing post-race ride-height checks.

Daniel Rowbottom did make the podium, finishing third in race three after a seventh and a fourth, while Sam Osborne, who is the Jack Sears Trophy front-runner, enjoyed a best result of ninth in race two to go with finishes of 13th and 20th.

The championship moves on to Thruxton on June 3-4.