Subaru’s Ash Sutton described his first British Touring Car Championship title as ‘unreal’ after he wrapped up the crown at Brands Hatch on Sunday.
Sutton took the title in the very last race of the year after rival Colin Turkington suffered damage to his BMW early in the race.
It meant that the 23-year-old could complete the rest of the race without the pressure of even having to finish, as Sutton went into the season finale with a six-point advantage.
The 23-year-old becomes the youngest champion in the modern era, and the youngest since John Fitzpatrick in 1966.
“It’s been an unreal season,” said Sutton to TouringCars.Net. “We’ve been up and down on the rollercoaster. We started off at rock bottom and we left here [in April] 31st in the championship.
“It all realistically started from Oulton Park – there’s where our momentum picked up, that’s where we got the ball rolling and that’s continued until now. The pace has been phenomenal, we’ve found our feet with the car and I can’t thank the guys enough at Team BMR and Adrian Flux Subaru Racing.
“The turning point for me was Croft; yes it started at Oulton Park, but picking up that win and two seconds really gave us a good points haul, which we carried into Snetterton to get two wins.
“From that point onwards, that’s where we really racked up the points and used them to our advantage towards the end of the year.”
Sutton admitted that he didn’t let the race two result – in which rival Turkington slashed his advantage with a win as Sutton struggled to 12th – affect his mentality or nerves heading into the final race of the season.
“It wasn’t so much as feeling down [after race two], but it just made the job a lot harder, especially after race one when we thought we had it sewn up.
“All we had to do is finish ahead of Colin, and it shows that the British Touring Car Championship soon changes race-by-race.”
Sutton, who has also been rumoured to be an option for an entry into TCR UK in 2018, is already looking forward to returning to defend his crown in 2018 with the #1 on the side of his car.
“I believe the that’s the plan [to return] and if we do we’ll be flying that number one!”