Ash Sutton says he is not concerned with trying to race with pole-sitter Jack Goff in the opening British Touring Car Championship race at Snetterton, as the Subaru driver focusses on his championship charge.
Sutton put his Subaru Levorg in third on the grid for Sunday’s race, having to work twice as hard to achieve the result after having had his initial fourth-fastest time disallowed for exceeding the track limits.
The result sees Sutton starting behind title rival Colin Turkington and first-time pole-sitter Goff, with the 23-year-old insisting he is only focussed on racing with the former due to his position in the championship battle.
“We put in a time that put us P3 but that soon got taken away from us, so we had to replicate it or better it,” said Sutton to TouringCars.Net. “It was last knockings but at the end of the day we did the lap and that’s what matters.
“[Race one] is going to be hard. It is narrow and if he [Goff] gets it off the line well it’s going to be hard to stay with him. He’s got a very, very good car under him and he’s shown that in qualifying, to be half a second clear of everyone.
“In my eyes I’m going to be racing the guys just behind me and Colin, so if we can get Jack then great but I think he may run away with race one.”
Sutton senses a possibility to make big ground up in the title race, as current points leader Gordon Shedden, who he is 21 points adrift of, could only manage 21st in qualifying with the full quote of success ballast on board.
“At the end of the day Colin’s the only one in front of me that’s in the mix at this current stage. Everyone else has had a hard hit, especially the Hondas who are struggling with their qualifying pace.
“We’re going to be trying to score as many points as we can in race one and close the gap to the leaders.”
When asked if the recent mid-season testing, at both Snetterton and Donington Park in a car-swap test with team-mate Jason Plato, had proven to be beneficial, Sutton added that the test probably found more issues with his own car.
“Jason and I went to test at Donington for his sake regarding the car swap test, and we’ve actually found a few things that were wrong with my car.
“They’re only small minor little things, but they all add up to the big picture. If anything, we found more with my car than Jason’s so it was an interesting test because we went there to try and assist with Jason’s scenario and came away at the end of the day with a list longer for my car – it was a bit of an eye opener!
“It’s given me that little bit more confidence, and we just keep adding it all together. Hopefully we’ll have the puzzle solved at the end of the year.”