NAPA Racing UK closed in on an historic treble of titles in the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship at Croft last weekend; Ash Sutton extended his lead at the top of the standings after a record-breaking 55th career win, with home hero Dan Cammish jumping up to second.
Following Saturday morning’s Practice, all four NAPA-backed Ford Focus Titaniums were split equally between both groups heading into Qualifying, Cammish notably taking the fastest time in his group.
In the resulting Race to Pole, Cammish raced his way to a front row start for Sunday’s action; Sutton pipped Ingram off the line and claimed third, extending his championship lead above the 100-point margin, with Cammish now second. Lewis Selby took full advantage of his ever-improving performance to charge through into the points, 14th with Sam Osborne 18th.
In front of a packed crowd in Yorkshire, Sunday’s Race 1 provided the perfect advert for the BTCC’s typical, wheel-to-wheel action; Sutton emerged from a thrilling, four-car scrap for the win as the highest-placed NAPA Ford in second, with Cammish fourth to start the day with a solid haul of points.
Selby and Osborne took full advantage of the wet conditions, tactically using the hard tyres on the formation lap to remove them from the allocation for the following races – effectively sacrificing the first race for better performance in the latter two contests.
Race 2 started with Sutton among the three on hard tyres, something which should have been a hindrance to the championship-leader – but clearly nobody told him!
Sutton prevailed, taking his 55th BTCC race win in the process and making him the most successful driver on the current grid, and the fifth most race-winning driver in the championship’s history!
Dan Cammish, finishing fourth, re-claimed second in the championship with an 8-point lead over Ingram. Unfortunately, Osborne and Selby both faced frustrations, finishing outside of the points.
That frustration continued into Race 3, with a charge via the pit lane into the points by Selby the only consolation for the team, with Sutton, Cammish and Osborne caught up in a first lap, first corner incident.
Leaving the weekend, Sutton continues to lead the Drivers’ Championship by 115 points while Dan Cammish now sits in second. NAPA Racing UK are top of the Teams’ Championship, with a 205-point gap to Team VERTU behind and the Manufacturer/Constructor Championship sees Alliance Racing / Ford with a 192-point gap over Mercedes as well. All three championships could be mathematically won next time out at Silverstone, on 26-27 September.
