The BTCC moves from the high speed sweeps of Thruxton to the stop start Silverstone National circuit. Silverstone is a real power circuit, the slow corners leading onto long straights favouring the manufacturer backed entries with their torquier & more powerful engines from the likes of BMW, Ford & Honda.
Dan Cammish clinched a second pole position in a row in his FK8 Honda Civic Type R, hoping to further bolster his championship challenge after a strong weekend at Thruxton.
Dan Cammish made a strong start in race one, leading into turn 1 & holding off Tom Ingram in his Toyota Corolla, who had a stellar weekend at Thruxton taking two race wins. Ingram piled the pressure onto the mercurial Cammish, who got a bit of a break on lap 5 as Michael Crees’s Honda Civic Type R made contact with James Gornall’s Audi S3. The contact saw Crees’s Honda buried in the gravel which brought out the safety car.
On the restart, Cammish was able to keep a hard charging Ingram at bay, the pair battling for the duration of the race. It was redemption for Cammish at long last, taking a well earned victory after a challenging mid season, Cammish suffering rotten luck with reliability woes stunting his championship challenge. Tom Ingram held on for a second place finish. Rory Butcher put in a superb defensive drive in his ballast laden Ford Focus ST to take third place. Colin Turkington took fourth place, a welcome return to form after enduring an awful weekend at Thruxton, which badly damaged the defending champion’s title defence. Ash Sutton rounded out the top five after battling race long with Turkington.
Race 2 see’s Cammish start from the point with Ingram alongside. Cammish roared off the line, but it was Ash Sutton who made waves, sweeping round the outside of Turkington in turn one. Sutton made contact with Butcher, spinning Butcher off. Ingram managed to sneak past Cammish for the lead at Priory & Luffield.
Ingram meanwhile began to eek away from Cammish’s ballast laden Honda. Adam Morgan was on the move in his Mercedes, up into fourth, taking advantage of the shenanigans that broke out in front of him with Sutton & Butcher. Sutton meanwhile had dropped back from the head of the field and dropped down to 10th.
Cammish meanwhile was steadily falling into the clutches of Turkington’s BMW with Adam Morgan & Jake Hill towing up behind. Ash Sutton back in tenth meanwhile was becoming a cork in the bottle for the chasing pack, struggling for pace in the Infiniti after making contact with Butcher’s Focus ST. At the head of the pack, Cammish had closed right up to the tail of Ingram’s Toyota with Turkington’s BMW right under the wing of Cammish’s Honda, just half a second separated the top three by Lap 10.
Aiden Moffat pulled off a stunning pass into Copse, gaining two positions on Jake Hill & Josh Cook, the move didn’t last long as by the following corner Josh Cook had managed to sneak past Moffat. Turkington managed to sneak ahead of Cammish for second place, putting the rear driven advantage of his BMW to good use accelerating out of Luffield and powering past Cammish’s Honda. Ingram continued to lead with a small advantage over the chasing pack. Michael Crees dived into the pits, retiring his Honda on the spot, a miserable weekend with two retirements in as many races for Crees.
Ash Sutton picked up a puncture on Lap 18, a major blow for the championship leader, with the flailing tyre shredding the front of the Infiniti. Moments later, race leader Tom Ingram picked up a front left puncture as well, dropping out of the lead, handing the lead to Colin Turkington. Turkington held on to take victory from Dan Cammish with Adam Morgan in third, Matt Neal in fourth & Aiden Moffat in fifth after a strong drive for the scot.
The reverse grid draw will see Tom Oliphant, Colin Turkington’s teammate start from pole position for race three.
There was drama before the race began as Michael Crees would start from the back of the grid following an engine change. Tom Oliphant bogged down off the line, allowing Ollie Jackson to jump ahead into the lead after a rocket start. Andy Neate meanwhile found himself in the barriers after leaning on Jade Edwards and spinning himself into the barriers. Moments before, Tom Ingram was collected by Tom Onslow-Cole, spinning off into the barriers and retiring on the spot.
At the foot of the top 10, Rory Butcher started climbing up the order, first overtaking Dan Cammish and a lap later Colin Turkington. The ballastless Ford Focus clearly having the legs of the ballast laden Honda & BMW. Rory Butcher meanwhile was involved in a massive incident shortly after. Butcher leaning on Matt Neal, which saw Butcher’s car speared off to drivers right. The Ford Focus barely slowed as it skid across the grass, colliding hard with the edge of the barrier which sent Butcher skyward, barrel rolling a number of times and liberating his car of two wheels as well. Butcher stepped out of the car unhurt, but the race was red flagged to recover Butcher’s stricken car & to repair the barriers.
The restart would see Ollie Jackson start from pole position as he was scored as the leader prior to the red flag period. Jackson made a strong start, once again getting the jump on Tom Oliphant and opening up a gap. Adam Morgan made good progress, jumping up from 6th to 3rd. The battle in the mid field was furious as Ash Sutton thundered up the order and snuck past Colin Turkington.
Jackson, Oliphant, Cook & Morgan were separated by a tiny margin, duking it out for 1st down to 3rd at the head of the field. Dan Cammish was another beneficiary, climbing up the order, running in fifth and slowly closing onto the back of Adam Morgan’s Mercedes. Ash Sutton continued up the order, the ballastless Infiniti setting fastest lap after fastest lap and slicing past Tom Chilton’s Honda.
Tom Oliphant after applying the pressure to the leader finally managed to overhaul Jackson’s Ford, but that was reversed by the next corner at Maggot’s. Ash Sutton barreled through the order jumping into 5th with Tom Chilton jumping up two positions under braking into Priory.
Ash Sutton continued his charge, up into third place with just three laps to go and right on the tail of second placed Tom Oliphant. Sutton crawling all over Oliphant, forcing him to both attack race leader Jackson and having to defend from a visibly quicker Sutton. The final lap saw Sutton go side by side with Oliphant through Copse and outbrake Oliphant into Maggots. A post race penalty for Sutton, who was adjudged to have gained an unfair advantage when overtaking Oliphant for second, this saw Oliphant promoted back into second place & Sutton dropped to third. Jackson held just enough of a gap to take race victory from Oliphant with Sutton in third, Dan Cammish in fourth & Adam Morgan in fifth.
The championship standings after a hugely exciting day of racing are as follows, with 19 points separating the top 3 drivers with it all to play for:
- Ash Sutton – 237 points
- Colin Turkington – 233 points
- Dan Cammish – 220 points
- Tom Ingram – 195 points
- Rory Butcher – 192 points
The next round of the championship takes place on the technical challenge of Croft on 10th-11th October. Until next time, stay safe.
