Ash Sutton: ‘I feel the best I’ve ever felt’

Ash Sutton has sounded an ominous warning to his rivals ahead of the 2023 BTCC season after insisting that he feels better than ever going into the new campaign.

Sutton came close to a third successive title in 2022 before finishing second to Tom Ingram in the standings, and goes into the upcoming season amongst the favourites to add a fourth championship crown to his resume.

Part of Sutton’s confidence going into the new season is the fact that he now has a season at the wheel of his Motorbase-run NAPA Racing Ford Focus, with his deal last year only providing limited time to get used to the car prior to the season opener.

With improvements to the car over the winter, Sutton admitted he was pleased with where he stands going into round one and was in better shape than ever before.

“Last season, we didn’t get a handle on the car early enough as the deal was only really done in late January,” he said. “We couldn’t come in and make the tweaks we needed before the season started, although we didn’t know the car well enough to even make those tweaks until later in the year.

“With a season under our belt, and the winter period to amend a few bits and do some development work, we’ve rolled out in testing and it seems to have worked, although the times are completely irrelevant and don’t really count for anything.

“We have to see what happens when we get to Donington but I feel the best I’ve ever been both physically and mentally. It’s also the best I’ve felt in terms of the preparation of the team over the winter and we’re all in high spirits. It all looks good.”