The BTCC champion starting afresh in a five year-old car

A team that seemed to come out of nowhere to sign up two of the British Touring Car Championship's biggest guns, yet win the title with a young star in only his second year in the series; another team that operated on its own for the first time last season, but found itself hamstrung by an ageing car to which it had no IP rights; and a car that was so unsuccessful when it stumbled onto the track in 2015 that its best result was a mere 15th, yet was resurrected four years later because engineers believed it was the key to future BTCC success.

It has to be said that the merger of Team BMR and Laser Tools Racing - under the latter's banner - and their adoption of the Infiniti Q50 is one of the stories to follow in the BTCC this season. And that's even before you factor in that leading the driving strength is none other than 2017 BTCC champion Ash Sutton, that very 'young star' we mentioned in the opening paragraph.

Like all good stories, it's important to pull the threads together. BMR initially entered the BTCC in 2013, with team owner Warren Scott driving a SEAT, before absorbing current Team Hard boss Tony Gilham's eponymous squad for 2014 and taking on his Volkswagen CCs and Vauxhall Insignias.

For 2016, the ante was raised hugely as BMR entered a partnership with Subaru UK to become the marque's official team, running the Levorg Sports Tourer, with those 'big guns' Colin Turkington and Jason Plato heading the line-up.

At that time, Sutton was a protege of Scott, whose mentorship had allowed the then-21-year-old to win the 2015 Renault Clio Cup title, before embarking upon a rookie season in the BTCC with the Triple Eight-run MG squad. Turkington then returned to the West Surrey Racing-run BMW operation in 2017, and was replaced by Sutton, who promptly lifted the title.

Over 2018 and 2019, pickings were slimmer as attempts by BTCC organiser TOCA to equal performance of the cars led to the previously advantageous Levorg, with its unique boxer engine configuration, becoming increasingly breathless on the straights.

"Federico said, 'Why are we mucking about with the Mercedes when we have a proper car here?'" Bob Moffat

"The first year, in 2016, the Levorg was a big shock to the whole of the touring car community," says Sutton. "I got the best out of it in 2017, but from that point on it got harder and harder."

After four years together, the BMR/Subaru relationship came to an end at the conclusion of the 2019 season, albeit not before Sutton bowed out with his and the car's only win of the campaign in the final round at Brands Hatch. Scott, however, continues to manage Sutton and needed to find a competitive seat for his charge for the following season.

Meanwhile, Laser Tools Racing's Aiden Moffat had raced a Mercedes A-Class since the 2015 season under the umbrella of the Ciceley Motorsport squad, which built and developed the car primarily for Adam Morgan.

Scotsman Moffat and dad Bob, the team boss, went it alone in 2019, taking with them engineer Federico Turrata, the COO of Italian engineering consultancy Hexathron Racing Systems.

"We took charge of the car ourselves," recalls four-time Scottish banger racing champion Moffat Sr, "and since then things were considerably better. We felt it went far superior, it was more reliable, and we did quite a good job. Federico is a good guy, who is very committed to Aiden and everything we do."

It was Turrata's study into the Infiniti Q50 that led to the surprise decision to resurrect that project in the middle of the 2019 season, with Moffat giving the car its 'second debut' at Snetterton in the round following the summer break.

"I'd bought the two Infinitis from Derek Palmer [who had run the cars under the Support Our Paras banner in 2015] just to use them as trackday cars and as an advert for Aiden's body shop," explains Moffat Sr. "And then Federico said, 'Why are we mucking about with the Mercedes when we have a proper car here?'

"After the first five rounds in 2019, Aiden wasn't enjoying himself with the Mercedes. Everyone else had moved on so much, and Ciceley had the rights to the car, so although I was prepared to spend money on development they seemed to want to go in their own direction. We wanted to have our own car - so we bought a new shell, a new bodykit, it's brand new."

Following Moffat's first two race outings in the Infiniti, Sutton - an acknowledged rear-wheel-drive maestro, whereas Moffat's career had been entirely in front-driven cars - tested the rear-driven Q50 at Snetterton last September.

"Rear-wheel drive was new for Aiden, so when Bob moved over to the car he asked for a bit of guidance," says Sutton. "There was nothing to hinder anyone by me helping them, and if anything it gave me a little insight into what could be.

"I only got a couple of sessions, probably a maximum of 20 laps, but I was able to get a few impressions. I was quite impressed with the car overall, bearing in mind it's five or six years old."

The ball was rolling towards a collaboration between BMR and Laser Tools, with Moffat Sr saying he'd previously spoken to Scott about getting his son into a Subaru.

"I probably came along at the right time," points out Moffat Sr. "I felt that the Subaru wasn't going to get a fair chance [under the BTCC's performance balancing], and Warren decided to drop that car and come to the Infiniti with us."

That, of course, was not only with Scott's BMR team, but with the driver whose career he has taken care of over the years.

"All the people working on my car are exactly the same as the past couple of years" Ash Sutton

"It was the end of 2014 [when he was finishing his single-seater career in Formula Ford] that I started having conversations with Warren," says Sutton (pictured below at Donington in 2019 with Scott, left). "He pestered me for two or three months to drive his Clio! I went onto their academy programme, and without that I wouldn't have got into touring cars.

"Warren has helped in every deal that we've succeeded in. As well as being the team owner, he's played the role of manager and made sure I had a seat."

The new tie-up has resulted in Scott's BMR Engineering, under the guidance of chief engineer Antonio Carrozza, being responsible for the production of two brand-new Infinitis.

When Sutton won the title in 2017, BMR's chief engineer was Carl Faux and his race engineer was Dan Millard, but Faux went down under to work in Australian Supercars, and Millard has gone on to run Turkington to BTCC titles at WSR. Carrozza took over engineering Sutton's car in 2018.

"He was very new to the team then, and he technically replaced Carl at the top of the ladder," Sutton says. "I would class him as a friend rather than a work colleague, but as a colleague he's been trained by the best and I don't doubt any decisions that he makes."

At present, it is very much the existing Laser Tools crew led by Turrata running Moffat's car, and the BMR boys under Carrozza looking after Sutton's.

"All the people working on my car are exactly the same as the past couple of years," says Sutton.

Moffat Sr appreciates the strength of the BMR Engineering set-up - which, after all, was critical in getting this project to gather strength for 2020.

"We've used some of their engineering staff for the build and development of the car," he says. "After all, they did a good job with the Subaru. But all the Laser staff are still here [Moffat Sr says his squad numbers 35 in total, "and that includes the hospitality because they're part of our team"].

"We're quite happy to support BMR Engineering, and their members are working on Ash's car, which is good because they're good people."

The Q50s were completed late, only arriving at Silverstone at 4am for the BTCC Launch Day. Both cars had electrical problems, but Sutton got some quick running in during the afternoon to go ninth quickest in a car that was fresh out of its box. Turbo problems, which it is understood are not unique to the Infinitis, also hampered the effort, not only at Silverstone but when they moved on to Brands Hatch.

"I'll take it with a pinch of salt," says Sutton in reference to his Silverstone lap time, "but it was good. We did six or seven fast laps, and it ticked a box for sure in terms of the pace we dragged out of it in such a short space of time."

"From when I won my first British karting championship at age 13 I always prayed that I'd do BTCC. When I got there, it was a massive life-goal achievement" Ash Sutton

Sutton says he's "pretty confident we can get straight into it and hit the ground running. My main aim is to be there at the end [in the hunt for the title]."

But what then? He's still only 26, he's a rear-wheel-drive whizz, so how about eyeing DTM or Aussie Supercars, where he's already had a test?

"I'd like to have a shot at that, but when that happens I don't know," he says with the air of a man who's happy where he is. "I've also been doing some TCR - the door is always open but the BTCC does seem like home.

"From when I won my first British karting championship at age 13 I always prayed that I'd do BTCC. When I got there, it was a massive life-goal achievement."

If he turns a project that started life half a decade ago into a winner, you'd argue that such an achievement would be even greater.