Ash Sutton: ‘We’ve done a fantastic job’ in 2025

Ash Sutton praised the work of his NAPA Racing UK squad in the 2025 British Touring Car Championship, after he finished as the runner-up to Tom Ingram for the second time.

Sutton was the only driver in the field able to take the title fight to Team Vertu’s Ingram, but in the end the four-time champion feel short as Ingram clinched the championship at Brands Hatch with a race to spare.

Sutton eventually finished 34 points adrift of Ingram, after two podium finishes at the Kent finale weren’t enough to take the title.

Nonetheless, Sutton played a part in helping NAPA Racing UK to secure the Teams’ championship, with the squad falling just three points short in the Manufacturers’ ranking.

After finishing behind rival Ingram in both of Sunday’s opening two races, Sutton concluded his season with second in the reverse-grid race, never quite getting close enough to challenge winner Josh Cook for the lead, despite following the Toyota for the final nine laps.

“It’s a shame we couldn’t get both the Teams’ and Manufacturers’ titles, but to get one of them is great,” said Sutton to TouringCars.Net.

“I think we’ve done a fantastic job. We’ve not always had the best results, and we’ve always managed to bounce back on race day, whether that’s from a strategy perspective or a clever bit of racing.

“But if you look at the points they speak for a hell of a lot. We’re the only one who managed to keep this championship fight alive.

“I finished over 100 points ahead of third place, so it just shows where me and Tom have really been at. But ultimately their car was a better car, and they did a better job. I can’t really argue with that at the end of the day, can I?

“I gave it absolutely everything I possibly could to stay in the hunt and we kept it alive right until Round 29. We did what we could, and I was the only driver able to do it.”

Sutton finished every race of the 2025 season and was in the top ten in all bar one race, when he suffered a puncture at Croft.

Having scored his second-highest points tally, and a tally which would have been good enough for the title in most previous seasons, Sutton admitted that the bar had been exceptionally high in 2025.

“It’s a credit not just to me and Tom but the teams as well. If we go four or five years back, you’d see many more DNFs. We’ve seen a much higher rate in positive results in terms of big points.

“When you do get a DNF or a non-points score it really hurts you now. The average points-per-round has definitely gone up.

“We did all that we possibly could to try and get a fifth title, but it just wasn’t our year this year.

“As a team we’re going to go and dive deep into our car and package, and I’ll look at myself as well to see where we can improve.

“I need to go away and reevaluate myself like I do every year to come back stronger. Fingers crossed we’re in a much stronger position come round one with a car that is in a much better place for the whole year.”

When pressed as to whether he would be back behind the wheel of a Ford Focus in 2026 – given rumours elsewhere about a possible change for next season – Sutton said that a decision on changing car had yet to be confirmed.

“There’s not anything confirmed from our side. I believe it’s going to be the same at this moment in time.

“The rules have been frozen in terms of engine regulations, so there’s nothing really that teams can do there. We’ve got to go and look at the chassis and see how we can get more out of it that way.

“I genuinely said at the end of 2022 that the car was done and I didn’t think there was anything in it, and I got proven very much wrong, so I’m hoping that’s going to be the scenario this time around.

“The car is still strong. If you take the Hyundai out of it we’ve been the strongest car. For sure we’ve got a strong package, but if you compare it to the Hyundai we haven’t. That’s as clear cut as it comes.”