Ashley Sutton is confident he can adapt quickly to the challenges of mastering the Subaru Levorg GT and hopes to help the team continue its progression in this year’s British Touring Car Championship.
Sutton was recently unveiled as a Team BMR driver for the upcoming season alongside Jason Plato and James Cole.
Team BMR enjoyed a successful second half to last season following some early teething problems with the model, whilst Sutton claimed the Jack Sears Trophy behind the wheel of an MG6, including his first ever race victory and pole positions in a stellar campaign.
He was recently awarded BRDC Superstar status and believes he is in a good position to assist the team with moving the car further along its upward development curve.
“Over the course of last year you could see the team finding their feet with the car and getting into a rhythm,” explained Sutton.
“I now want to continue that development and move the car further along its program.”
He also admitted assistance from experienced team-mates such as Plato and Cole is a resource he is keen to use until he has an early grounding with the car.
“I will never turn down help from anyone, at the end of the day there is a famous saying ‘every day is a school day’, until I find my own comfort zone and baseline I will need to rely on the team around me.”
Despite having raced front-wheel drive cars in recent seasons, the 2015 Renault Clio Cup UK champion also insists the switch back to a rear-wheel drive model makes little difference in his mind.
“Being complete honest, it isn’t something I am stressing about. I am going back to my roots being in a RWD car. A car is a car at the end of the day and I feel I can adapt to something very quickly. It’s like riding a bike after you’ve not ridden one for 10 years.”
The rising star also has a number of personal objectives in mind for when testing begins in earnest.
“I have my own personal targets that I set after last year and I have been chipping away at them over the winter period but I can’t put them into action until I am strapped into the car.”
Sutton’s final team-mate is set to be announced at a later date.