The pair came out the other side of an eventful triple header atඣ Knockhill in Scotland last weekend to remain first and second in the drivers’ standings, although Sutton’s lead has grown from six points to 37.

Ingram believed he had won the opening race aboard his EXCELR8 Motorsport-run Hyundai i30 Fastback N only to be disqualified🅺 following routi✨ne ride height checks just moments after he had taken the chequered flag.

Before Ingram’s charge to the front on wet tyres materialised, Sutton appeared to be on course for the win when Josh C🌞ook crashed out only for the result to be turned on its head when the weather turned.

Despite displaying impressive car control on s𝓡lick tyres, the call to delay h༒is pit stop as the rain pelted down soon backfired, although he still finished well inside the points in sixth position.

In race two Jake Hill (Laser Tools ♊Racing wit✤h MB Motorsport) was embroiled in an edge-of-the-seat duel with Sutton, who charged through the field from sixth to second to exert pressure on the BMW driver. But despite probing for a way past on several occasions, Hill held his nerve for back-to-back successes.

Heavy rain returned for the start of the reversed grid finale but Sutton once again showed title-winning qualities by easing past the cars in front of him and made sure of maximum points with a relatively straightforward manoeuvre on R🅘onan Pearson’s EXCELR8 Motorsport Hyundai i30 Fastback N as the𝔉 racing line dried out.

Sutton’s winning margin over Cook was 9.636 secon♔ds as Ingram rounded out the podium sp🔜ots in third, 16.568 seconds shy of the Ford Focus ST exponent.

“I am ecstatic – I won’t lie,” said Sutton. “After race one, I thought we were going to have a tough task on our hands in terms of the Championship, but with the disqualification of Tom and the performance in race two, and then to finish it off with a win, I could not ask for much more than that.

“This is the bꦺiggest gap I have ever experienced in British To๊uring Cars, so I am not going to complain about it at all, but we have seen even this weekend how quick things can change.”

Sutton is refusing to lose the run of himself ahead of rounds 22, 23 and 24 next weekend, when the action returns to the Gra🌟nd Prix circuit at Donington Park for the first time since 2002.

“I am not going to get too excited j൩ust yet,” Sutton added. “We are closer than we have ever been before, but we🅰 still need to be clever.”