Ashley Sutton setting sights on Jack Sears Trophy

Ashley Sutton is aiming to bring the Jack Sears Trophy home as he prepares for his debut season in the Triple Eight Racing MG6.

The 2015 Clio Cup champion made a strong impression in the official test session at Donington Park, forming part of the BTCC’s media launch, and is already setting his sights on bringing home some silverware at the end of the year with the Jack Sears Trophy for rookie drivers.

“I’m over the moon, don’t get me wrong, it’s a dream come true,” said Sutton, speaking to TouringCarTimes during the test session. “It’s great to be involved with such a prestigious team like Triple Eight let alone MG. I want to keep the Jack Sears Trophy in the team, I want Josh [Cook, new MG team-mate] to pass it down to me. While aiming for that I also want race wins, we’ve got a few targets but the main one we’re going to concentrate on is the Jack Sears Trophy.”

While the deal was announced relatively close to the media day, Sutton admits that he had known the deal was on for “a good few months” and had time to prepare for his debut. Sutton also acknowledged the help of Team BMR boss Warren Scott in getting the drive, with Scott also taking on the role of manager to the BTCC rookie.

“We’ve had a good few months behind the scenes,” said Sutton, who raced with Team BMR in his championship winning Clio Cup campaign. “We’ve had to work hard with the sponsorship to put deals in place but for a good two or three months we’ve known. Warren Scott was the one who sorted this deal out for me and he’s now managing me as a driver. Without all his efforts over the winter period and this year so far we wouldn’t be where we are today.”