Born in Mildenhall, Suffolk, Sutcliffe began his racing career in 1969. He competed in Formula Three from 1970 to 1973, before contesting the 1974 European Formula Two Championship, finishing tenth overall in a BMW-powered March 732 entered by Brian Lewis. He was entered for that year's Formula One British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch, in a Brabham BT42 run by the Italian Scuderia Finotto team, but did not appear.