Photo: Jakob Ebrey

Ash Sutton pleased with pace-setting performance

Former champion Ash Sutton admitted he was pleased with the wet weather performance of his Infiniti Q50 after a strong performance in the two-day BTCC tyre test at Snetterton.

The Laser Tools Racing driver headed into the test looking to put plenty of mileage on his new car having only been able to complete limited running during the previous group test at Silverstone back in March.

A solid opening morning saw Sutton go seventh quickest in what would prove to be the only dry session of the week, with the ex-BMR man then topping both wet sessions on Wednesday.

Although admitting that times need to be taken with a pinch of salt, Sutton declared himself pleased with how the car and team had performed, and said he was confident about a solid season when racing kicks off at Donington Park next month.

“Due to the COVID-19 pandemic it has been quite a long lay-off out of the car so it obviously felt great to be back behind the wheel and it felt like no time had passed; I was straight back into the groove of things,” he said. “Whilst it is great to come away with the fastest time in the wet conditions you can’t read too much into it as you don’t know what everyone else up and down the pit-lane is working on. That being said, we’re very happy with how things have gone for us as a team.

“We went into the test with a clear plan of what we wanted to work on but unfortunately due to the weather conditions we had to push that aside. We were really looking forward to getting some dry running as our time in the car has been very limited. It’s fair to say that we have got to grips with the car in the wet and it is pleasing to come say from Snetterton knowing that we have been able to make some real improvements to the Infiniti.

“It is going to be a busy few months once racing gets underway at Donington Park but I’m more than up for the challenge and I’m excited to see what we can achieve; I have the best possible team around me and I’m confident we will be firmly in the mix towards the front.”