Laser Tools Racing has announced that it is to become a two-car outfit for the 2020 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship, with 2017 champion Ash Sutton joining the fold to partner Aiden Moffat.
Team Principal Bob Moffat has confirmed that the design and build of two new Infiniti Q50 NGTC cars for the 2020 campaign is underway, and that talks with Sutton have been on-going behind-the-scenes for a good while.
“We have been speaking to Ashley for a number of months now,” said Moffat Sr., “We are delighted to welcome him into the Laser Tools Racing squad. He is going to bring a wealth of skill and experience, and I know that Aiden is already looking forward to working with him.”
Moffat Jr. is relishing the team's growth, and the prospect of joining up with his new team-mate.
“I can’t wait to get going! I think it will be a very exciting year for myself and the team," he said. "We're really looking forward to expanding to two cars and I can't wait to start working with Ash.
"For me, he is one of the best drivers on the grid and I’ll have my work cut out trying to keep up! He's also a friend of mine, and someone I can work with to bring the best out of each other.”
Sutton is equally enthusiastic, having sampled the Infiniti during a test this past summer. The former Jack Sears Trophy champ, and 2017 title-winner, is relishing the prospect of driving the car and hunting down glory.
"It’s a great pleasure to be involved with Laser Tools Racing and to be working alongside Aiden and everyone else involved in the team," said Sutton. "It’s great to see this combination between the two of us grow.
"I’m really looking forward to getting behind the wheel of the Infiniti. Rear-wheel drive is my comfort zone and having run a rear-wheel drive car for the past three years, I feel that we can roll over of our learnings onto the Infiniti.
"What we’ve actually got going on here is very exciting. I haven’t had this excitement since 2017 — it’s giving me butterflies! We’ve got a lot to look forward, too. The car has a lot of potential and I think between us, we’re going to extract some good performance out of it.
“Aiden and I are going to be the team to be reckoned with. The advantage is that we are great friends away from the track. On-track we’ve had our elbows out a few times, but now it’s time to knuckle-down as team-mates and progress. The Infiniti is a great package and to be able to develop this is an exciting opportunity.”
“For the 2019 season, we made the decision to bring all race preparation and design work in-house to Laser Tools Racing," added Bob Moffat. This paid great dividends and gave us the confidence to change cars mid-season.
"We built Aiden’s Infiniti up from a bare shell in just ten days and had it ready for the Snetterton tyre tests in July, and to race at the same venue just two weeks later. The new car proved very quick at Knockhill and then Aiden achieved a worthy second place at Silverstone.
“This accelerated development showed that the Infiniti has considerable potential, so with Ashley 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.”
