BTCC’s Sutton set for international GT debut at Monza

Four-time British Touring Car Championship title winner Ash Sutton is to make his international GT debut this weekend at Monza.

Sutton, who leads the 2025 BTCC standings, is stepping away from his Alliance-run NAPA Ford Focus ST to share a Paradine Competition BMW M4 GT3 Evo in the three-hour second round of the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup.

Paradine owner-driver Darren Leung lies second in the Bronze Cup class with silver-rated Indonesian Sean Gelael and factory BMW racer Dan Harper following the opening round at Paul Ricard, but Harper has a clashing IMSA SportsCar Championship commitment in Detroit.

Leung, who raced on the BTCC support package in 2022 in the Ginetta GT4 Supercup, contacted Sutton, who as a result drove the car in the recent Spa 24 Hours Prologue test and also last week at Zandvoort.

“Darren texted me Thursday evening at Brands [the BTCC round on 10-11 May] and said, ‘Do you fancy coming out to the Spa Prologue to have a go in a GT3 car?’” Sutton told Autosport.

“It kind of stemmed from that. He told me a bit of his plan moving forward, and the pool of drivers he gets caught out with when they all have to go off and do IMSA or Asian GTs or stuff like that.

“He just wanted to expand that pool of drivers and he looked at me to do so. We went and did the Spa Prologue, which was quite cool to have a first stab at GT3s – thrown into the deep end there.

“I only did 30-odd laps in the car, and then we were out at Zandvoort on the Monday after the race weekend [for the GTWCE Sprint Cup sister series]. I had three quarters of the day in the car to myself so that was good.”

Ashley Sutton, NAPA Racing UK Ford Focus ST

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

Not only had the 31-year-old Sutton never driven a GT3 car, but his only experience of international racing to date is from some TCR Europe outings in 2018 and 2019.

“I loved the car,” he said of the BMW. “GT3s in general was a bit of an eye opener.

“I was quite taken aback by the amount of downforce they have, the weight of the car and the size of the car in comparison to what I’m used to, but the BMW in general seems a really strong package, a car that I gelled with quite quickly from the get-go. They’re mega bits of kit.”

When asked whether he would be open to further outings in GT3, Sutton replied: “Time will tell. This is my first endurance race full stop, so that’s going to be a big learning curve.

“It’s going to be a good test for myself. It should also show Darren what I am capable or not capable of doing, and we’ll go from there and see what’s in store in the future after that.

“We’d only passed the odd message here and there. So it’s nice to be that driver that he’s reached out to, to come and jump in and ultimately help him out doing the job they want to do in GTs.”

Pete Osborne, owner of the Alliance Racing team with which Sutton competes in the BTCC, has been open about his international GT and Le Mans 24 Hours ambitions.

“All drivers look at GTs, not maybe as a career-ending path but as a stepping stone in their career,” said Sutton.

“When that comes for me I don’t know – I still feel that I’ve got unfinished business here [in the BTCC]. I want to get that fifth [record breaking] title, but at the same time NAPA, Alliance, Pete doing a GT3 programme, that is entirely down to Pete and NAPA and their own conversations.

“Obviously it was loosely spoken about a year ago but nothing came from that.”