Dan Cammish:
“I was pleased with how things went. I drove the wheels off the car, but I was disappointed after race two as I had a bad start, got bogged down, and was frustrated in a fast car but around people who were having their own battles. You can’t take that away from them, but it’s frustrating when you know the performance is there to get further up the grid as Ash [Sutton] has proved all day. I let myself down on Saturday, putting it in the barrier, but I fought back as best I could, and in race three I was one lap from getting Tom [Ingram].
“At the end of the day, what will be will be. We all abide by the same rules, whether it’s track limits or car discretions. It is a team sport, I gave one away yesterday, and no one looked at me for blame. We race as a team, win as a team, and lose as a team. I’m proud of the guys.
“I’ve passed a lot of cars, so we go away knowing the car has lots of speed and it’s a long season. We go somewhere I enjoy next, Thruxton, so I will try to put a few more trophies on the mantlepiece. I’ve had numerous poles and wins there, and it’s been somewhere which always suited me, so I’m hoping to put a stamp back on the championship.”
Dan Cammish headed to the Norfolk countryside at the weekend (May 20/21) for rounds seven, eight, and nine of the British Touring Car Championship season, which took place at Snetterton.
Last time out at Brands Hatch, Dan scored 40 points to maintain his lead atop of the championship standings, leaving with a well-earned podium finish and was hoping to continue that form in his NAPA Racing UK Ford Focus ST.
The Yorkshireman moved to the sharp end of the field with his first proper flying lap, before a red flag halted the session. Unfortunately, when it resumed, he ran wide at Hamilton, hitting the barrier, and came to a halt at Oggies, which also meant he lost his one and only flying lap time having caused another red flag, and would have to start 25th on the grid for race one.
Owning his mistake, Dan vowed to give it everything he had on race day and started the opening contest on the hard tyre, but despite being on the rubber with the lowest grip levels, he flew through the field on the opening lap, gaining eight positions. Running tenth, he was pipped on the final lap, finishing 11th – a gain of 14 places from his starting position.
In race two, he battled throughout with Dan Lloyd, the pair switching places early on, but in a somewhat processional affair it was difficult to make significant progress and he crossed the line where he started, 11th once again.
For the final race of the weekend, Dan started on the soft tyre and made the most of the grip, up to eighth by lap three, and soon up towards the sharp end of the field. Setting the fastest lap multiple times, he fought his way past Rory Butcher at Riches to move into second place and hunted down the leader, Tom Ingram, piling on the pressure on the final lap.
Without a clear opportunity to make a move, despite some kerb hopping exploits, he crossed the line less than a second away from what would have been a remarkable victory, especially from where he started the day. Unfortunately, after the race, his car failed ride height checks during post-race scrutineering, and he was disqualified from the results, an unlucky end to what had been a strong day of racing.
After a challenging weekend Dan will now focus his energy on rounds ten, 11, and 12 of the British Touring Car Championship campaign, as the series heads to the fastest circuit in the UK – Thruxton – over the weekend of June 3/4.
