MOTORSPORT
SUTTON: IT’S JUST THE START
BTCC king aims for all the records. We wonder who can stop him
Six pages of news, insight and opinion from the world of motor racing
Damien Smith
RACING LINES
T he light faded on the 2021 British Touring Car Championship and brake discs glowed orange as the tin-tops dived into Paddock Hill Bend. Up front, Ash Sutton serenely drove into the distance to score his fifth and final race victory of a clinically relentless campaign. The points leader since the second weekend of the season had already calmly wrapped up his third BTCC title and second in succession in race two and now, as he put it, “the handcuffs were off” to fully express himself without the worries of ensuring a further haul of points.
It was almost dark as he took the chequered flag in race three at Brands Hatch – much darker than it looked on the telly – as Sutton closed out his phenomenal season in a perfect manner.