Dan Cammish: ‘It’s been a mega weekend’

NAPA Racing UK’s Dan Cammish scored a podium in each of the British Touring Car Championship races of a weekend for the first time in his career, collecting a trio of seconds at Thruxton.

Cammish began the weekend in less than ideal conditions, having come down with an illness in the days leading up to the event.

After completing Saturday’s practice sessions in tenth and ninth respectively, a Lemsip-dosed Cammish went on to replicate his lap times in qualifying whilst his rivals lost pace, resulting in him qualifying on the front row of the grid for Sunday’s opening race in second.

Although Cammish got by pole-sitter Tom Ingram at the start of race one, he was also jumped by the BMW of Jake Hill, leaving him in second, where he remained to the chequered flag.

In race two Cammish fell behind Ingram with a controversial move at the chicane, where the Hyundai driver cut the corner and failed to give the place back to the Ford driver.

However, after getting back into third and posting the fastest lap in the process, Cammish was promoted to second when Ingram was penalised for his misdemeanour.

Starting sixth for the reverse grid final race, the 35-year-old fought his way up to second in an eventful race and then settled in behind team-mate Ash Sutton for a NAPA 1-2 result.

Cammish delighted in a successful weekend which sees him sit fifth overall in the drivers’ championship standings, 40 points from the series lead.

“Three podiums is always an amazing weekend,” said Cammish to TouringCars.Net. “It’s been a mega weekend.

“We were a bit behind on Saturday morning, which was clear from the timesheets. Come qualifying I thought we had pulled out an amazing lap – the car got better and better and I delivered a lap which I thought was pretty good, one to be proud of, and it changed our weekend around.

“We made the car better consistently every session. We had good use of hybrid and good communication with the team.

“In race three, it was fantastic for me and Ash to come forward like that. We used our heads, we drove well, we overtook well and we worked together on the restart. The whole thing was a great day for NAPA so I’m very proud of that one.

“By the time I got into second, Ash had more hybrid and he has been very quick all day. By that point, I had less hybrid than those around me, down to one lap I believe, and I didn’t want to get passed by a fast BMW that happened to get close in a slipstream with hybrid.

“I said to Ash ‘you concentrate on getting away, take me with you, and we’ll celebrate a good day out’ and that’s how it panned out.”

Cammish says he feels more confident with his car at the start of the 2024 season compared to last year, even though he has yet to record a victory this season.

“I’m really pleased with our progress as a team. I’m not saying the wrong thing when I say the last two years haven’t been easy for me. I’ve worked hard, but I find it difficult to get on top of the car at times, it’s not always been to my liking as a driver.

“We spent a lot of time over the winter understanding that. We’ve re-engineered it a little bit more towards me and what I want to drive – I just feel so much more confident.

“The processes that we’ve got around us now, with some good people, the whole thing just feels better. I feel back to my best over the start of this year.

“That’s the third meeting in a row where we’ve really delivered. You’ve got to remember that I was chasing Colin [Turkington] to win at Brands when the front-left tyre gave up and it’s these little bits that have caught us out that we’re hoping to eradicate because they’re points that we can’t afford to lose. You put those 18 points back in and I’m right in the mix.

“I’m a top five, top six driver, and I think I could be even closer when it matters.”