Dan Cammish:
“I’m looking forward to Donington Park. I’ve had a lot of success there and I do enjoy it as a circuit. I’m glad that it’s the first race of the year as I think it’s a good place to go. It’s the dawn of a new era for the BTCC with the new hybrid system and will be a day of firsts with my maiden race with NAPA Racing UK and Motorbase Performance.
“Preseason testing has been good, and I think we’re fairly confident that we can be in the mix. I’m not saying we’re going to go out there and win, but we’re building from a sensible foundation, and I don’t see any reason why we can’t aim to be on the podium out of the blocks. That’s where we’ve got to be aiming for and then we’ll go from there.
“The hybrid system works as intended and I think it’s going to do exactly what was planned, which was to get people alongside and to mix up the racing. We won’t have to worry about taking the weight in and out anymore, and that’s got to be a good thing. The main thing now is getting the car in the window that I want it in, I’m working with a new engineer in James Monday, and trying to have not just a quick qualifying car, but a quick race car too.”
Dan Cammish is set to get the exciting new hybrid era of the British Touring Car Championship underway this weekend (April 23/24) as the Yorkshireman heads to Donington Park as part of the debut appearance for NAPA Racing UK.
Run by experienced outfit Motorbase Performance, NAPA Racing UK will be fielding a pair of Ford Focus STs in a powerhouse line up which not only boasts Dan, but also features reigning champion Ash Sutton.
A record-breaking three-time champion in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB, Dan came within a lap and a half of the BTCC title in just his second year in the series, finishing a mere two points back in the standings after suffering a mechanical failure on the penultimate lap of the season.
Ending the 2020 season again in third place in the championship, just 16 points off the leader, the 33-year-old returned to the Carrera Cup for 2021, adding his record third title and 35th victory in the series during a successful campaign.
This season Dan returns to the BTCC with his eyes firmly on establishing himself at the front of the field as the series adds hybrid technology for the first time in its history. The system regenerates during braking on track, with up to 15 seconds of deployment available to drivers, once they are above 120 kph. It will also replace the success ballast system; with the number of laps a driver can use the technology reduced dependent on championship positions.
In practice, this will mean that, for example, in a race of fewer than 17 laps, the pole sitter leader will be unable to use hybrid power for ten laps, while in qualifying the number of seconds the system is available ranges from zero for the championship leader to the full 15 seconds for those outside the top ten.
Dan will head out on track at Donington Park for two 45-minute practice sessions on Saturday, April 23 at 09:35 and 12:15, before qualifying at 15:35, which will be shown live at itv.com/btcc. The all-important race day features three 16 lap contests, scheduled for 11:50, 14:40, and 17:25, with each broadcast live on ITV4 and ITV Hub.