Dan Cammish:
“I had a good weekend. The team was very up and down as a whole – but I’m happy I was the top point scorer. P4 in qualifying was a good effort, especially considering that the BMWs were the fastest thing in the place all weekend. We didn’t have that kind of performance, but we had enough to stay close enough.
“I finished race one in P4, which was fair, and then to get P2 was good – I was happy to score my first podium of the year. It’s been a long time coming, but it’s great. Unfortunately, the way my day panned out, I had no option but to use the hard tyre in race three and I was the second finisher on that compound, but I was 13th.
“The problem was that the weekend dictated where I use the hard because I’d been successful to that point, so I haven’t been able to get rid of it like some of the others did. Equally, because it rained early in the weekend, I hadn’t scrubbed them in. It was brand new, box fresh, as I sat on the grid, and it was damp for a whole sector. Even if I kept up most of the lap on the dry bit, the grip level I lost was exponential in the wet bit and there was no way I could keep up.
“I’m pretty confident and I’m happy that if I had started on wets, which were my only other option, I would have finished 13th or lower. Fourth, second, and 13th tells part of the story, but this was absolutely the best result I could have achieved. We came home unscathed and closed the gap to the top of the championship, which was a good result and means we can look ahead to Thruxton.”
Dan Cammish scored a podium finish in the British Touring Car Championship at the weekend (May 25/26), as he continued his good start to the 2024 season.
With confidence high owing to strong pace in his NAPA Racing UK Ford Focus ST, Dan was on the pace in both of Saturday morning’s practice sessions at Snetterton, in Norfolk, finishing second quickest in both.
After wet weather all morning, the circuit was mostly damp with rain starting to fall again for qualifying. The Yorkshireman took part in Part 1 Group 2 for the new for 2024 format, finishing second and advancing to Part 2, where he made it into the Quick Six shootout. On slicks for the final 10-minute segment, despite some damp corners, Dan lost his first time due to track limits, but kept calm on his second and only flying lap, finishing fourth.
Starting on the soft slicks on a damp circuit for the opening race of the weekend, Dan slipped back a place off the line and was stuck behind Adam Morgan for the first half of the 12-lap contest. Looking every which way, he used his hybrid boost to great effect coming off the final turn to get ahead, quickly pulling away once he was past. He then began to close in on NAPA Racing UK teammate Ash Sutton ahead, crossing the line fourth at the flag.
Race two was delayed as a thunderstorm swept across the circuit, dropping a large amount of water on the venue. With the sun back out as the cars went to the grid, tyres would be key as large parts of the track were dry, with others still very damp. Off the line, Dan ran third, fending off Bobby Thompson, as the rain returned on lap 7 of the planned 12. That halted any threat from those on slicks and he took second on lap 10 when Andrew Watson spun off in front, scoring his first podium of the season.
Lining up eighth after the reverse grid draw ahead of race three, Dan was forced to start on the hard tyre. With the set not even being scrubbed in during the weekend, he wasn’t able to keep pace with those on wets or softs through the damp final sector but brought the car home 13th and second of those on the harder rubber at the flag.
It capped a good weekend for the Yorkshireman, scoring the most points of anyone in the NAPA Racing UK team. He will carry the good form to Thruxton in two weeks’ time (June 8/9), for rounds 10, 11, and 12 of the British Touring Car Championship season.
BTCC Drivers' Championship, after 9 rounds
1. Ash Sutton, 121 points
2. Colin Turkington, 111 points
3. Tom Ingram, 110 points
3. Jake Hill, 110 points
6. Dan Cammish, 77 points
BTCC Manufacturers' Championship, after 9 rounds
1. Alliance Racing / Ford, 242 points
2. BMW, 236 points
3. EXCELR8 Motorsport / Hyundai, 223 points
4. Toyota, 202 points
BTCC Teams' Championship, after 9 rounds
1. NAPA Racing UK, 205 points
2. Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS, 184 points
3. LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ, 172 points
4. Team BMW, 169 points