'Still smashing it over kerbs': 4x BTCC champ Ash Sutton joins tin-top elite

BTCC News

As Max Verstappen dominates F1, BTCC has its own standout star in Ash Sutton, whose committed, attacking style means that few are complaining as he races towards the series' all-time records

Ash Sutton holds up BTCC title trophy

Sutton is the first driver to win the BTCC championship in front- and rear-wheel drive cars

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Author

Damien Smith

Has anyone come close elsewhere in the motor sport world to matching Max Verstappen’s dominance in 2023? No – but I’d argue Ash Sutton has run him close in terms of major achievement in his particular arena. The 29-year-old became a four-time British Touring Car Champion this year, equalling the record held by Andy Rouse and Colin Turkington, in a manner that elevated him head and shoulders above his (seriously tough) grid of rivals.

The BTCC is one of the tightest and most competitive series in the world and boasts great quality these days, at least in the top half of the field. That means Sutton’s tally of 12 wins – equal to Alain Menu’s in 1997 – and 20 podiums from 30 races represents a level of dominance rarely seen in a series that involves a balancing of performance. Sure, the BTCC’s bespoke hybrid system has so far created less of a handicap for success than the old use of weight ballast. But still, to achieve such consistency across a season is no mean feat.

Like Verstappen, Sutton drives for the best team, newly-named Alliance Racing, that provides him the best car in the Napa-sponsored Ford Focus. But as BTCC chief Alan Gow points out, the Focus isn’t always the quickest car. “When you look at the stats, which we do all the time after every race to check sector times and everything else, that Focus is not always the quickest, certainly not in a straight line. It’s nowhere near in fact. It’s about pure handling and braking, particularly in Ash’s hands.”

“He makes that car dance. He’s on the edge but always in control”

Also like Verstappen, Sutton’s approach to racing is nearly always on the front foot. He races on the edge, in a style that’s perhaps the motor racing equivalent to the England cricket team’s so-called ‘Bazball’ strategy to win test matches.

ITV commentator David Addison has watched and talked about all of Sutton’s BTCC races. “He is such an exciting and attacking driver to watch,” he says. “Not attacking in the aggressive sense of being on the verge of an accident or a dirty driver. Just in terms of how he makes that car dance. He’s on the edge but always in control.”

Addison also points out Sutton is evolving and has learnt to dial out the driving errors some critics like to point out. “He has fantastic car control and has great ability to read a race,” says the commentator. “Nine times out of 10 if something is happening up the road he’s already committed to where the gap will be.”

Ash Sutton on track in BTCC Ford Focus

Sutton’s car control is key to getting the most out of the Focus

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As Verstappen and Red Bull racked up a series of records in 2023, Sutton hit his own unique achievement: he is the first BTCC driver to have won the title in both rear- and front-wheel-drive cars (his previous titles having been delivered in a Subaru Levorg and Infiniti Q50). It cannot be overstated how special that is, says 1992 champion and Addison’s co-commentator Tim Harvey. “I don’t care what anyone says, there is a skillset where a driver tends to prefer front or rear-drive over the other,” he says. “I’ve never seen anyone adapt so naturally to both and be at the top of the game in either. That’s exceptional.”

Just as in F1, a driver’s relationship with his/her engineer is key in the modern BTCC. Verstappen has Gianpiero Lambiase, Sutton has Tony Carrozza, who also leads the build of the Focus at Alliance. “People don’t understand just important engineers are in the BTCC,” says Addison. “You are now looking at young drivers in the championship, but also young engineers – and actually a double act. Tom Ingram has it with Spencer Aldridge and Sutton has it with Carrozza. Whether it’s strawberries and cream or Morecombe and Wise you need that double act now.”

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Sutton is also raising the game in terms of pre-weekend preparation, as Addison reveals. “There are some drivers who rock up on a Friday because that’s when they go racing,” he says. “There are some who want to walk around the paddock signing autographs or doing social media, trying to be megastars. But Sutton arrives having spent at least a full day on the simulator, and he and Carrozza do an entire race simulation weekend. So they will do two 40-minute runs for free practice, 30-minute qualifying run and then effectively three full races. So when he’s got to the circuit and they roll the car out for FP1 he knows exactly what he wants because he’s worked on it in the week on the sim. He’s already starting way ahead of the eight-ball compared to other people.”

We find ourselves asking just how good Verstappen might be, and the same conversations are going on about Sutton in touring car circles. Comparing drivers from different eras is always a waste of time, but Harvey is certain that Sutton belongs among the absolute elite in the tin-top realm. “He is right up there with the best of the best touring car drivers I have ever seen or raced against – no question,” he says. “He’d have held his own against absolutely anyone in any era. He’s an exceptional talent. The records he has already set are almost unbelievable at 29. If he sticks around as he says he intends to do he can beat all records including Jason Plato’s 97 wins, which I keep winding Jason up about!”

Sutton has 39 so far and with three races per weekend and 10 meetings per year, Plato’s record could well be in sight – especially as he hasn’t yet hit 30. Also, he looks unlikely to race in any other series, on the back of what he has consistently said over recent years.

“I would love to see what Ash could do in other formulae”

Harvey admits he’d like to see Sutton stretch himself, but respects Sutton’s devotion to the BTCC. “He loves the series, he knows it inside out, it’s 10 weekends in the UK, it’s easily done,” he says. “He’s obviously earning a living out of it. But personally, I would love to see what Ash could do in other formulae, be that GT racing or Aussie Supercars. The BTCC is a great place to be, but I’m slightly frustrated he doesn’t choose to do more with his talent. If he wanted to he could probably earn a lot more money and do much more. But that’s a personal call. He has a young family and he has his simulator business here in the UK, so I get it suits him.”

Gow certainly wouldn’t want to lose him. The Australian reckons Sutton is the “complete package” in the manner of fellow four-time champ Turkington, and although he’s tweaked the hybrid boost system for 2024 to level the playing field the ringmaster believes strongly that Sutton deserves his success, on merit.

“The other teams haven’t been crying out for Ash to be nobbled,” Gow reveals. “They appreciate it’s Ash, he’s the best driver in the best car – and some of the others have helped him by not being as good as they could be. Domination is never good and you wouldn’t want it continue for too long. But the best car and best driver should always win this championship. My thought is just not by too much.”

Ash Sutton holds up four fingers after winning 2023 BTCC championship

Four championships so far, and plenty of time for more: Sutton appears content to race in BTCC

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So has the BTCC become ‘boring’ thanks to Sutton and Alliance? After all, that’s often the claim made about Red Bull and Verstappen’s success in F1. Harvey has no time for such talk. “Don’t let anyone say it’s boring or predictable, just enjoy what Sutton is doing,” he says.

“Also he’s exciting to watch. When Turkington was winning his championships with percentage driving it wasn’t that exciting. Ash has never been a percentage driver. He could have qualified averagely at Brands Hatch for the 2023 finale and stroked it home, but there was no question of that. He went out, stuck it on pole and won the first race, even under pressure from Tom Ingram [his only title challenger]. He could have let Ingram go past and finish second. If Turkington had done that we’d have said it’s sensible driving, bagging the points, not taking any risks.

“Ash is still smashing it over the kerbs, trying to win the race and do it in style. We should be enjoying that.” That rings a bell, doesn’t it?

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