Ash Sutton vows to fight back on race day after non-finish

Ash Sutton has vowed to fight back at Donington Park tomorrow after failing to finish the first-ever British Touring Car Championship Qualifying Race.

The Alliance Racing driver had put his Ford Focus Titanium onto the front row of the grid for the inaugural bout however his race came to a premature end on lap two.

Attacking pole sitter Tom Ingram throughout the opening lap, Sutton slid across the grass on the run down to pitch him across the track and into the gravel.

The result means that the four-time champion will now start the opening race of the season tomorrow from last on the grid.

“That certainly wasn’t the way we wanted to start the season,” said Sutton. “I don’t really want to comment too much about the incident but it did feel like the door was closed on me.

“We’ve got the car in a good place though and I’m gonna be on a mission tomorrow. I want to be inside the top five in race one so it’s gonna be a case of getting the elbows out and sticking some moves on people.

“Obviously I’d like to be on the first few rows but I’m confident we can salvage a strong haul of points tomorrow.”