Double champion Ash Sutton said he was happy he could still “put on a show” as he progressed forward in the final race of the 2020 British Touring Car Championship season en route to his second series title.
Sutton, who secured both the overall and Independent Drivers’ championships in his Laser Tools Racing Infiniti, described his 2020 season as “mega” and was glad he could entertain in the season finale as well as claiming the championship.
“For an Independent team to win the overall championship, it’s been a long time since that’s happened,” said Sutton.
“For Laser Tools Racing and BMR engineering and RCIB and everyone involved and all my personal sponsors, it wouldn’t be possible without any of them it’s just a real shame that we can’t experience it with the crowd and the fans.
“I hope we put on a good show all year, it’s been an absolute mega year to even get racing. Without your support at home it wouldn’t be possible as well.”
With Sutton enjoying better pace than main title rival Colin Turkington on a wet road, the Infinti racer was pleased to capitalise on the low-grip conditions around the twisty 1.2-mile Indy layout and noted he was “surprised” by his pace en route to victory in a dry second encounter.
“Coming into the weekend we saw it was going to be mixed conditions both days, obviously yesterday in qualifying it was wet and we just missed out on that pole,” he said.
“It put us in a perfect position today and despite it drying out in race two, the car came alive in race two and I was a bit shocked myself.
“The boys and girls back at base and the guys and girls that are here and all my family. They’ve delivered me the perfect year and without them this would not be possible.”
Forced to produce a measured drive in the final contest after battling directly with Turkington on track, Sutton noted he was only going to risk a move if he could complete the manoeuvre cleanly, and cited his race two puncture after contact with Jake Hill at Croft in stating he’d “learnt the hard way” that being conservative can pay dividends.
“Touring cars can change so quickly, and obviously that race fell into our favour with the rain. We sat there behind Colin and I was not willing to make a move until he made a mistake or left the door open, which he did. I made the most of it and from that point onwards we just drove off into the distance,” explained Sutton.
“I learnt the hard way at Croft. Race two bit me hard when we ran into Jake [Hill], but I’m a new man in some respects and we’re going to have to sometimes bite the bullet and say we’re not on a winning weekend.
“But for sure this weekend the inner racer came out and we were there. We still managed the results when we needed to but when gaps come, I made the most of them.
“I’d like to think that we won the championship in that last race with the inner racer showing rather than the conservative. I still wanted to put on a show for you guys at home, and we did that and we came away with the championship.”