BTCC: Morgan, Sutton & Chilton share the spoils in Scotland

Napa Racing UK’s Ash Sutton extended his championship lead with a seventh victory of the season whilst it was a breakthrough weekend for Cataclean Plato Racing with Adam Morgan victorious while Team VERTU’s Tom Chilton banked on a reverse-grid draw to end the day on a high.

The Scottish weather was in typical full force with the heavens opening early on Sunday morning and continued up until the first race. The tricky conditions didn’t make any of the 23 drivers hold back with several three-wide moments especially into Talyor’s Hairpin, down the main straight; crossing the finish line and heading down into Duffus Dip to start the rollercoaster lap again.

RACE RESTART: The drivers anticipate the Safety Car restart with Adam Morgan controlling the pace during Race 1

 The Scottish crowd had their home hero at the front of the field as Three Time Champion and Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport Gordon Shedden shared the front-row just behind Cataclean Plato Racing’s Adam Morgan for the opening race.

Morgan held firm; surviving the conditions, maintaining his lead and controlling the Safety Car restart perfectly to take his – and the team’s – first win of the season. It was a historic race for the team – more so that despite a solid defence, Shedden couldn’t keep Daniel Rowbottom at bay making it a first-ever win and a first-ever one-two finish for Jason Plato’s new squad.

Shedden piloted his Toyota Corolla to a brilliant third; returning to the rostrum at his home race for the first time since 2017 whilst the Championship protagonists; Ash Sutton and Tom Ingram climbed through the closely fought pack to finish inside the top five.

With the conditions clearing and the track drying with the help of the support races in between the main action, the dry tyres were required for the second race. There was little hope for a second win of the day for Plato Racing’s squad as both Morgan and Rowbottom, and third place Shedden, would be starting on the harder of the two Goodyear tyre compounds and entitled to less boost.

All eyes looked to the title rivals of Sutton and Ingram who were poised to continue their fight as they were best placed of those behind to battle for victory.

Ingram, desperate to claw back some ground in the title fight, was already hampered as the lights went out as his Hyundai was nursing a power issue. As the action ahead of him slowed into Duffus Dip and Leslie’s, the VERTU driver nudged the rear of Shedden’s Corolla causing race-ending radiator damage.

With his main rival in the pits and out of the car, Sutton made light work of his competitors ahead to claim his seventh victory of the season; continuing his streak of at least a victory in all of the BTCC meetings so far this year.

Despite running the race on the harder tyre, Rowbottom claimed another brilliant second place as he fended off Team VERTU’s Ricky Collard who recently extended his agreement with the team to continue racing for at least the next three events after a sensational start to the season.

Race one winner Morgan fell to fifth, just behind LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with Power Maxed Racing’s Mikey Doble, and just ahead of WSR’s Charles Rainford who piloted his BMW into the points after a difficult opening race saw the three-time BTCC race winner finish in 21^st.

Shedden claimed seventh with a very respectable drive and finished ahead of fellow Scot Dexter Patterson with the Steal Seal with Power Maxed Racing driver finishing in the top 10 for a second consecutive race.

For the Reverse Grid draw, Sutton put his hand into the bowl ensured that the final race of the day would live up to true BTCC style with chaos – as the Napa Racing driver picked ball number 12 at random which meant that the driver that finished the second race of the day would start the third race on Pole.

Team VERTU’s Tom Chilton had banked on the hope of making it into the Reverse Grid Draw after a difficult qualifying and first race. Finishing the damp opening race in 17^th and out of the points, Chilton worked his way into the point scoring positions and just outside the points in 12^th – the stars had truly aligned.

Seeking his first victory of the season, Chilton sat a lowly 13^th in the standings after a mixed bag of results with a podium finish at Snetterton the highlight of his 2026 campaign. Desperate not to put a foot wrong, an outstanding, dominate drive was just what the doctor had ordered.

Climbing from eighth, race one victor Morgan completed an impressive day with a second-place finish which saw the Plato Racing driver end the weekend with the biggest points haul of anyone.

Napa Racing’s Dan Cammish, who sat third behind Ingram and team-mate Sutton in the standings before Knockhill, claimed the final podium position in third.

Patterson rounded out a brilliant weekend in front of his home crowd with a fabulous fourth place finish and thus claimed the Jack Sears Trophy honours.

Whilst it was celebrations for one of home favourite drivers, the third race saw all 23 drivers reach the chequered flag however rounding out the competitors was fellow Scots Shedden and LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with Power Maxed Racing Aiden Moffat in 22^nd and 23^rd place with both enduring a difficult race.

It was a weekend of ‘what could have been’ for Moffat as the Dalkeith born racer topped the one and only Practice session. He then rued his qualifying effort despite being seventh but had admitted he hoped to be closer to at least the first two rows of the grid. His weekend spiralled from there, and unfortunately, it’s his story of the season so far; lots of pace but not a lot to show for it.

As for the title contenders in the last race of the day, Ingram rose from last to claim 10^th and a handful of valuable points over Sutton who endured an entertaining race with a few scuffles from various battles saw the Championship leader finish in 12^th.

The drivers now have a few weeks break to regroup to go again as the Championship moves back down South with action at Donington Park next.