Dan Cammish:
“It’s been fantastic. I said on Saturday night that I thought the races might come back to me and they did. Okay, I expected those to be dry races, but the car performed brilliantly. NAPA have done an amazing job and I’m proud about how much work they’ve done. I’ve worked on myself too – I looked at myself more than I have any year previously, because I knew that if there was anything to find in me, I had to figure that out, and I’ve approached this season hopefully in the best place I could possibly approach it.
“I knew we had a fast race car; the qualifying car is going to take a little bit more tweaking and that maybe is our little trade off, but on Sunday, I knew we’d be a rocket ship and we were. We did a fantastic job on slicks in the rain. I always back myself in those conditions – in fact I’ve won a couple of races like that before. I’d already been told that people had pitted on the formation lap, so I knew the race win was gone. That’s where we can learn as a team because I should have realised at that point that the game was over, and I should have been thinking about the reverse grid. That’s all that mattered.
“I ended up 13th but had the bit of luck that I needed. Last year, I had a car that just could not move forward with. I wasn’t quick, I struggled, and I spent more time going backwards than forwards. This year I drove back to 13th with the bit between my teeth and a fast car. You get a bit of luck, you’re on pole, and that is touring cars in a nutshell. These days are fantastic, you take them, and you enjoy them, but we’ll start work on Brands Hatch on…Tuesday! We’ll be back thinking ‘how do we make sure we continue?’ because there’ll be no stone left unturned in this team and certainly in my performance this year.”
Dan Cammish bounced back from a difficult 2022 season in style, claiming a pair of British Touring Car Championship wins at Donington Park in tricky conditions at the weekend (April 22/23).
With both he and the entire NAPA Racing UK team putting in hard work over the winter to ensure they arrived at round one in the best shape possible, everyone’s efforts paid off handsomely with two wins and, but for a sudden rain shower, might have swept the board in all three contests.
Dan was straight on the pace behind the wheel and finished the main part of qualifying third fastest, part of a NAPA one-two-three, but finished the top-ten shootout – a new feature for this season – in fifth position, albeit knowing that his Motorbase Performance-prepared Ford Focus ST would be quick in race conditions.
That proved to be the case come Sunday morning as the Yorkshireman avoided trouble off the line and quickly vaulted into second position before the first of two Safety Car periods. Despite pressure from champion Tom Ingram behind, Dan kept his eyes forward and managed to get alongside and past leader Jake Hill into the Old Hairpin, opening up a two-second gap to claim the win.
Starting from pole position for race two, he was in an unenviable position as rain began to fall on the formation lap, with more than half the field coming into the pits for wet tyres. As conditions only worsened, he valiantly battled on track on slick tyres, before giving it up on lap 11 of 21 to switch to wets. From there, Dan drove brilliantly, and gained a slice of luck when Ronan Pearson was disqualified for failing post-race checks, leaving him 12th which became pole for race three when the draw was made.
He again drove a masterful race for the final contest, maintaining the lead into turn one and pulling away twice after two Safety Car periods. He grew his advantage throughout, crossing the line three seconds clear of the pack and assuming the lead in the standings, while his performances also mean Motorbase Performance / Ford sits second in the Manufacturers / Constructors Championship and NAPA Racing UK second in the Teams’ Championship.
There will be little time to relax however, as rounds four, five, and six of the BTCC season take place in just two weeks’ time, on the Brands Hatch Indy circuit in Kent.
BTCC Drivers' Championship
1. Dan Cammish, 48 points
2. Tom Ingram, 40 points
3. Jake Hill, 32 points
4. Tom Chilton, 30 points
5. Adam Morgan, 26 points
BTCC Manufacturers' / Constructors' Championship
1. EXCELR8 Motorsport / Hyundai, 86 points
2. Motorbase Performance / Ford, 78 points
3. BMW, 77 points
4. Toyota, 52 points
BTCC Teams' Championship
1. BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with EXCELR8, 74 points
2. NAPA Racing UK, 70 points
3. Team BMW, 57 points
4. Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport