Ash Sutton: “It’s bittersweet as I think we could have won all three”

Ash Sutton was left to wonder what might have been at Brands Hatch after he closed out his British Touring Car Championship campaign with a dominant third win of the season.

The Alliance Racing driver arrived at the series finale sitting third in the standings and with work to do as he looked to close a 33-point deficit to the top two.

Showcasing blistering pace in qualifying, the Ford Focus ST driver fell foul of track limits in Q3 and had his fastest time, which would have been good enough for pole position, taken away from him, leaving him to salvage third.

Unfortunately for Sutton things got worse on race day as he was collected by Josh Cook at Druids on lap one of the opening encounter, ending his race and his chances of clinching a record-breaking fifth title in the process.

Starting from the back of the grid for race two, Sutton charged through the field to finish fifth and then produced a wet weather masterclass in the reverse grid bout to win by more than ten seconds – which enabled him to cement third place in the Drivers’ Championship.

“It’s a little bittersweet because I honestly think we could have won all three races,” said Sutton. “The car the team gave me was absolutely phenomenal, and that was proven in that last race. I said I wanted to end on a high and thankfully we managed to do that – I was having a blast out there.

“Had we not lost the lap in qualifying then race day may have been very different however it is what it is. We haven’t had the outright pace this year as opposed to Jake [Hill] and Tom [Ingram] – we certainly gave it a good go.

“I’ve got to say a massive congratulations to Jake, West Surrey Racing and MB Motorsport because they’ve done a mega job. I know how special it is to win it so I hope he soaks in every moment and enjoys it.

“For us, I’m hungrier than ever to bring home that record fifth title so we’ll go back to the drawing board, get our heads down and look to come out swinging next year!”