The British Touring Car Championship season threatened to become a one-horse race at times in 2023, such was the searing speed of Ash Sutton and his Motorbase Performance-run Ford Focus ST.
But reigning champion Tom Ingram kept it just about alive right up until the final weekend, before he was forced to hand his crown back to fourth-time winner Sutton.
Motorbase, which changed its name to Alliance Racing on the eve of that Brands Hatch finale, produced an absolute weapon of a Focus after a winter of intense development. Such was its – and Sutton’s pace – that only once was a Ford not on pole over 10 race weekends. And six of those poles (five from Sutton, one from Dan Cammish) were claimed on the championship leader’s minimum hybrid boost allowance of one second per lap…
PLUS: How a top-down overhaul formed the basis of Sutton's 2023 BTCC dominance
But, in the end, there was plenty to watch and talk about. Ingram was strong in the Hyundai, so were Jake Hill and Colin Turkington in their BMWs. Here’s how we rated the class of 2023.
10. Rory Butcher