Ashley John Sutton (born 15 January 1994) is a British racing driver, and four time British Touring Car Champion, who currently competes in the

British Touring Car Championship The British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), officially known as the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by ...

with NAPA Racing UK. After winning the Renault Clio Cup UK in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, Sutton moved up to the British Touring Car Championship for the 2016 season with MG Racing RCIB Insurance. He won one race in his début season, before moving to Adrian Flux Subaru Racing for the 2017 season. Sutton failed to score a point in the opening meeting, but won six races thereafter to win the championship, the youngest champion since

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

. He moved to Laser Tools Racing in

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, and would win the championship back to back in

and

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

. He moved to NAPA Racing UK for the 2022 season and won the championship for a fourth time in 2023. He also scored 12 Wins in 2023, equalling

Alain Menu Alain Menu (born 9 August 1963) is a Swiss racing driver who is currently working for Team BMR as a driving coach. He was one of the most successful touring car drivers of the 1990s, winning the prestigious British Touring Car Championship twic ...

's 1997 record. He was also the first driver since Menu in 2000 to win the BTCC title in a Ford.

Racing career

Sutton began his career in

karting Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on full-size motor ...

in 2000 and raced in karting up until 2009, when he switched to the 750MC Formula Vee Championship. He went on to win the Rookie of year award that season, finishing 4th in the overall championship with assistance from an established 2 Car team (AMP). He made a return to racing in the

2014 British Formula Ford Championship The 2014 Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain was a multi-event, open-wheel single seater motor racing championship held across England and Scotland. The championship featured a mix of professional motor racing teams and priva ...

after having been forced to sit out two and half years of racing, following a road car accident. He finished 3rd in the championship that year, taking 5 wins, 16 podiums, 4 pole positions and 10 fastest laps. For 2015 he switched to the

Renault Clio Cup United Kingdom Clio Cup Great Britain is an entry-level one-make touring car racing motorsport category, and the current name in the long history of Renault one-make cups in the UK. It currently attracts drivers from across the United Kingdom to compete along w ...

, entering the championship with support from the

team,

Team BMR Team BMR was a British motor racing team based in Buntingford, Hertfordshire and founded by Warren Scott. The team raced in the British Touring Car Championship between 2013 and 2019 after previously entering the 2004 British Superbike Champi ...

. Winning the championship that year, with 6 wins, 14 podiums, 4 pole positions and 4 fastest laps. In March 2016, it was announced that Sutton would make his

debut with MG Racing RCIB Insurance driving a MG6 GT. He finished 4th in the first race of the season and took his first win in a wet race three at Croft. He also won the Jack Sears Trophy, awarded to the top performing rookie. For 2017 Sutton moved back to Team BMR. He failed to score a point at the first round at brands hatch but since has taken wins at Oulton Park, Croft, Snetterton, Knockhill and Rockingham. He held a 10-point lead at the summit of the championship heading into the finale. Sutton clinched the title in the final race of the season after rival Turkington had earlier won the second race from 15th on the grid to keep the championship alive. However, on lap 2 of race three, Turkington was hit, therefore ending his chances and confirming Sutton as the champion, the youngest since John Fitzpatrick in

. During his title defence in 2018, Sutton won six races, the most of any driver during the season but came fourth overall. Sutton competed in the inaugural season of the TCR UK series, winning two races of a truncated campaign with Verizon Connect Racing.

Personal life

Sutton was educated at Birchwood High School, where he studied auto mechanics and engineering.

Racing record

Racing career summary

^* Season still in progress.

750MC Formula Vee

Ash Sutton started his car racing career in the 750 Motor Club'
Formula Vee Championship
driving a Storm. He finished fourth in the championship, taking three victories, coming at Castle Combe, Brands Hatch and Pembrey. He took a further five podiums.

Complete Renault UK Clio Cup results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Complete British Touring Car Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position – 1 point awarded just in first race; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap – 1 point awarded all races; * signifies that driver led race for at least one lap – 1 point given all races) ^* Season still in progress.

Complete TCR Europe Touring Car Series results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sutton, Ashley 1994 births Living people British Touring Car Championship drivers British Touring Car Championship Champions English racing drivers Renault UK Clio Cup drivers W Racing Team drivers TCR Europe Touring Car Series drivers TCR UK Touring Car Championship drivers Sportspeople from Bishop's Stortford GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup drivers