Very few people can leave such a void in so many people’s lives when they are gone, but David Sutton was certainly one of the few.
He was a person that if you were into the rally scene over the last 50 years or so you knew him, either from working with him, personally knew him or like most admired his work in the development and delivery of rally workshops and teams that brought excitement and joy to thousands of enthusiasts.
We in the quattro world will all know too well the work and influence he had on us with his involvement from 1981 onwards with the Audi UK rally team with his ongoing drive, passion and knowledge that brought major success in the world of rally.
He would often mention names such as Hannu Mikkola, Stig Blomqvist, Michelle Mouton and David Llewellin just to name a few, all were personal friends of David’s and on more than one occasion one of them would be on the phone to him when he was in my company.
Audi wasn’t the only success David had, if you speak to any personnel at Ford from the 1970’s & 1980’s they will tell you how they all held him in such high regard due to his fantastic work and success with their rally team.
Away from the car world David was such a great character and told some amusing stories, many that can’t be repeated. I remember arranging to meet him for lunch at ‘The Butchers Arms’ in Daventry, however to David it was ‘The World-Famous Butchers Arms’ the staff treated us like royalty andnothing was too much trouble, they loved David.
I had a great relationship with David and will miss him dearly, I will always remember him referring to me as ‘Dear Boy’.
Rest in Peace Dear Friend
Phil Jameson
