Halfords Yuasa Racing’s Dan Cammish was left “deflated” after the second British Touring Car Championship contest at Silverstone as a red flag ended the race early and denied him the opportunity to outscore title rival Colin Turkington.
Cammish struggled in race one – saying he was “beaten up” in the thick of the battle – but came home 11th on the medium compound rubber.
With the softs equipped for the second encounter, Cammish told TouringCars.Net his Honda Civic “came alive” as he progressed, but was left ruing the red flag which was called as he lined up a move on standings leader Turkington.
“To be honest I feel a bit deflated after that one to be honest,” said Cammish.
“The car came alive on the softs in the first few laps and I knew I had to be more aggressive after getting beaten up basically in the first one.
“I thought I was driving well, the car was working really well and we were coming forward, overtaking cleanly.
“Then it all got a bit messy and people started to have a fight, and under the safety car we had a bit of an issue.”
One of the most dramatic moments of the race actually occurred behind the safety car, as Cammish and Andrew Jordan had been side-by-side across the timing line, and neither wanted to concede position before the race resumed.
The pair spent the lap swapping positions and drawing alongside one another, before Jordan eventually conceded the place.
“I don’t know what was going on with Andrew, and basically asked on the radio, ‘Is it mine or is it not?’
“The team said it was mine so I asked whether he [Jordan] knew and they told me that BMW had told him its yours so I was thinking ‘Why is he still here?!’
“That was like a lap-and-a-half before the end of it, I mean what are we doing?
“He’s warming his tyres aggressively, and I can’t warm mine because we’re going to hit in the middle.
“Guys what are we doing? This is getting ridiculous. He eventually conceded and it was like – if the team had just come on the radio and said it’s not yours – I’d have said not a problem.
“But as far as I was concerned it was because I was like I just don’t understand what’s going on here, it’s not even like we’d had a run-in in the race, we had no issues.
“That took the shine off it a bit, because we’ve had a pretty good year between us in terms of being fair and everything.”
Cammish continued to outline his disappointment at not being able to complete his overtake on Turkington after he drew alongside on the exit of Luffield and looked to complete the move as the red flag was thrown.
“It’s a shame about the end, that’s cost me six points that red flag there,” he said.
“It’s a real shame because I’d have been five behind Colin now, instead of 11 because I was actually overtaking him on the way to the line.
“The next corner was a right-hander and I was on the inside so as far as I’m concerned he had a stronger car in full race trim, and I had a stronger car no doubt in those conditions.
“That’s a known fact, even Colin knows that. He would have had a hard time defending that one, and to be honest he’d already lost it.
He also noted his confusion as to why the red flag was thrown, as he felt the newly-surfaced circuit still offered a lot of grip despite worsening conditions.
Cammish then alluded to the fact that the potential points loss on Turkington could prove crucial come the end of the season.
“I don’t know what it was thrown for, it certainly wasn’t for the track deteriorating, it was absolutely fine to drive on,” Cammish said.
“If anything, it had quite a good amount of grip, I bet the lap times weren’t a million miles off.
“I know from the stuff I’ve been doing with Porsche that the track has a lot of grip in it, it was fine.
“I presume it was for where some of the cars ended up.
“But it’s a shame, because that six points is quite a lot when you’re battling for a championship.
“I would have been five points behind and more clear of Jordan. I don’t know, I just hope that isn’t the reason. Let’s put it that way.”
The final race of the British Touring Car Championship at Silverstone is set to get underway at 17:20 BST.