Motorbase Performance set for BTCC drivers’ title with Ash Sutton at Brands Hatch finale

British Touring Car Championship squad Motorbase Performance are set to claim their first overall drivers' title this weekend - but will do so under a different name.

The Wrotham-based team's star driver - three-time title winner Ash Sutton - starts the final round at Brands Hatch with a commanding 45-point lead over nearest rival Tom Ingram.

But the squad have changed their name with immediate effect prior to this weekend’s season finale, and will now be known as Alliance Racing.

They will also leave their Tower Industrial Estate base and relocate to a “30,000 sq ft motorsport headquarters in the Midlands in preparation for the 2024 motorsport season".

The switch marks the end of an era for Motorbase, which was set up by David Bartrum in 2004 but have been owned by former Porsche racer Pete Osborne since early 2021.

Osborne said: “‘This is a fresh and exciting new era for all of us involved. We’ve had strong plans right from the start and now we’ve done a few years learning and growing within the BTCC and TOCA package, we aim to continue in that vein.”

Running under the NAPA Racing UK banner, the squad have set the pace all season, with their blue-and-yellow Ford Focus STs claiming all but one pole position.

Sutton, who narrowly lost out to Hyundai pilot Ingram last season, has scored 10 outright wins this year, including two victories on the Brands Hatch Indy circuit in May.

The full 2.4-mile Grand Prix loop will be used this weekend, but only Ingram can mathematically beat Sutton with 67 points on offer across the two days.

Jake Hill’s bid is over for another year following mechanical woe at the last round at Silverstone with his West Surrey Racing-run Laser Tools Racing BMW 330e.

The Platts Heath charger won the