Sutton joins Moffat at new-look Laser Tools Infiniti BTCC team

Sutton, who took the 2017 BTCC title in a BMR Racing Subaru Levorg, will race a brand new Infiniti Q50, which is currently in build, and will team up with three-time race winner Aiden Moffat for the 30-race campaign.

The design and build of the cars is expected to be finished by mid-February when the machines are expected to begin an extensive pre-season testing programme.

Laser Tools Racing introduced the rear-wheel-drive Infiniti into the BTCC at the halfway point of the 2019 campaign to replace its Mercedes-Benz A-Class.

The model was originally run by the Support Our Paras team in 2015-16 before the squad withdrew.

Moffat ran as a one-car team in a reworked Q50 and took a second-place finish at the penultimate round of the season at Silverstone, pictured below and Sutton tested the car at Snetterton in the middle of the season to offer some pointers on set-up.

Sutton, who will continue to work with his 2019 engineer Antonio Carrozza, said that he had been impressed with the car when he drove it at Snetterton.

"I'm really looking forward to getting behind the wheel of the Infiniti — rear-wheel-drive is my comfort zone and with running a rear-wheel-drive car for the past three years I feel that we can roll over a lot that we've learned onto the Infiniti," said Sutton.

"And what we've actually got going on behind the scenes is very exciting — I haven't had this excitement since 2017. It's giving me butterflies!

"We've got a lot to look forward to, the car has got a lot of potential and I think between the pair of us, we're going to extract some good performance out of it."

Moffat has contested the BTCC since 2013 and has operated in a one-car team since his debut.

The 23-year-old said that he was keen to begin the work towards his 2020 campaign.

The racer said: "I can't wait to get going! I think it will be a very exciting year for myself and the team. We are all really looking forward to expanding to a two-car team and I am particularly looking forward to working with my new team-mate."

Team principal Bob Moffat, Aiden's father, said: "For the 2019 season we made the decision to bring all race preparation and design work in-house to Laser Tools Racing.

"This paid great dividends and gave us the confidence to change cars mid-season.

"[The] accelerated development showed that the Infiniti has considerable potential, so with Ash Sutton joining the team we decided to build two new cars which will be engineered with considerable improvements in weight distribution and stiffness.

"We will also be concentrating on the car's aero package and indeed the car is booked into the wind tunnel at MIRA in early December for this development.

"The result should be two very competitive NGTC cars and with our dream team of young guns Moffat and Sutton we are all going into 2020 with a sense of great excitement and determination.

"Ash is going to bring a wealth of skill and experience to the team and I know that Aiden is already looking forward to working with him."