Dan Cammish claimed his first Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship win of the season in a tense final race of the day at Donington Park this afternoon (Sunday).
NAPA Racing UK’s Cammish held the lead from teammate Sam Osborne’s similar Ford Focus ST at the start and managed to remain at the head of the pack throughout the race. Cammish safely negotiated two separate Safety Car periods and the onset of rain to pass the chequered flag first.
Proceedings were much more dramatic behind however, with reigning champion Ash Sutton heading to the pits after slowing rapidly following an excursion through the gravel at the Fogarty Esses. Shortly after that, fellow four-time champion Colin Turkington also suffered a moment, spinning wide at the Melbourne Hairpin.
Amidst all that, the Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall Astras of Aron Taylor Smith and Mikey Doble occupied the podium positions behind Cammish after both passed Osborne on lap two. The man on the move after this was Tom Ingram, recovering from a back row of the grid start after this retirement in race two.
Ingram’s charge accelerated rapidly through the opening portion of the race and he was up to sixth – crucially two places ahead of title rival Jake Hill by the time the Safety Car first appeared after debris was spotted on the circuit.
Full speed racing resumed on lap eight and, whilst Cammish once again streaked off ahead, it was all-action behind with Josh Cook passing Adam Morgan at the Old Hairpin for fourth, with Ingram following him through moments later. Ingram then overtook Cook at the Melbourne Hairpin to seize yet another position at the end of a scintillating return to full speed competition.
The Safety Car appeared once more a lap later after Aiden Moffat was beached in the Fogarty gravel trap. And this time there was additional jeopardy as the heavens opened – though Tom Chilton and Nick Halstead were the only drivers to gamble on wet tyres.
Cammish once again drove clear as Safety Car was withdrawn from the circuit, and it was the Vauxhalls behind which had to watch out as Ingram resumed his hunt for more points. Ingram’s Hyundai was third by lap 14 following an incisive move on Doble at Schwantz. And he wasn’t done there, passing Taylor-Smith on the penultimate lap of 17 to take second. But the 2022 champion had to settle for that, following Cammish home to the line.
Behind that, Taylor-Smith held on to claim a popular podium result, just ahead of Cook who featured towards the front throughout the race. Hill finished fifth, just ahead of Doble, after passing the Vauxhall on the inside at Redgate on lap 15.
Remarkably, Turkington recovered from his earlier spin to finish seventh, with Morgan eighth ahead of Daryl DeLeon and Sam Osborne who completed the top-ten.
Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship, Race 3, Donington Park
- Dan Cammish, NAPA Racing UK, Ford Focus ST
- Tom Ingram, Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS, Hyundai i30N, +1.959s
- Aron Taylor-Smith, Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing, Vauxhall Astra, +2.894s
- Josh Cook, LKQ Car Parts with SYNETIQ, Toyota Corolla GR Sport, +3.652s
- Jake Hill, Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport, BMW 330e M Sport, +4.048s
- Mikey Doble, Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing, Vauxhall Astra, +4.522s
- Colin Turkington, Team BMW, BMW 330e M Sport, +5.145s
- Adam Morgan, Team BMW, BMW 330e M Sport, +5.712s
- Daryl DeLeon, Duckhams Racing with Un-Limited Motorsport, Cupra Leon, +11.337s
- Sam Osborne, NAPA Racing UK, Ford Focus ST, +12.585s
Click here for full timings from this event.