Young British talent James Sutton has signed a deal to compete in the 2005 Formula Renault UK Championship with Fortec Motorsport. The Sutton Motorsport Images supported 19 year-old, from New Barnet, North London, will continue to race with Richard Dutton’s Fortec Motorsport team, for which he drove last year in the 2004 Formula BMW UK Championship.   

In only his second season of single-seater racing, James will be aiming to build on his impressive debut year in 2004 where he took two victories, three pole positions and wound up fifth in the final championship standings. 

James Sutton:  “I am delighted to be racing again with Fortec and the Formula Renault Championship will be an ideal formulae in which to build upon the experience and success I achieved in my debut season.  “I am proud to display the Sutton Motorsport Images logo on my car and overalls as I recognise the value that the badge carries, not only in joining a prestigious list of drivers who have been supported by them, such as Ayrton Senna, Kimi Raikkonen, Jenson Button and Tonio Liuzzi, but also in their ability to provide national and global coverage of my achievements through my career.”

Keith Sutton, CEO Sutton Motorsport Images: “I was most impressed with James’ performance in his debut single seater season and am confident he will continue to achieve success throughout 2005. I wish him and the Fortec team all the best for the coming season.”

Richard Dutton, Team Manager Fortec: “We are delighted that we have James onboard with us for 2005 after a fabulous debut season in Formula BMW where he exceeded our expectations.

James and the team will be in Spain next week to take part in a weeklong test, familiarising James with the Formula Renault car. Hopefully this test will give us the necessary edge over our competitors when the Championship begins!”