The 2026 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship returned from its summer break, with the teams pulling up in Hampshire for the fastest circuit of the series. The 2.36-mile Thruxton circuit playing host for Rounds 13, 14, and 15.
Saturday’s Qualifying Session took place on a very hot Saturday, with three of the four NAPA Racing UK drivers placed in one group and one in the other. However, Sam Osborne wasn’t present sadly because of illness. His Ford Focus Titanium was handed to Senna Proctor, who had the number eighteen on the racer and was placed in Group Two.
His teammates, Ash Sutton, Dan Cammish, and Lewis Selby were all together in Group One and all drivers were on the medium tyre compound for Saturday’s sessions. Each group ran for fifteen minutes, with Ash Sutton getting an allocation of just one second of boost per lap throughout. Dan Cammish had five seconds per lap available to him, while Lewis Selby and Senna Proctor both had the full allocation of twenty seconds per lap available.
Cammish set a best time of 1:15.408, while Sutton registered a 1:15.687. That placed the latter in fourth place, while Cammish’s was good enough for second in the group. Selby finished in seventh with a time of 1:16.181, despite having a high-speed excursion off track during the session. Meanwhile in Group Two, Senna Proctor set a time of 1:15.975 which placed him second fastest.
Overall, the Napa Racing UK Ford Focus Titaniums lined up on the Race To Pole grid in third (Dan Cammish), fourth (Senna Proctor), seventh (Ash Sutton), and thirteenth (Lewis Selby).
RACE TO POLE (14 Laps)
The Race To Pole saw the four Napa Racing UK Ford Focus Titaniums line up as described above, with Ash Sutton only allocated one second of boost per lap throughout this (eventual) fourteen lap race. Dan Cammish had five seconds per lap available, while Senna Proctor and Lewis Selby both had the full twenty seconds per lap at their disposal. All drivers were on the hard compound tyres for the remainder of the weekend at Thruxton.
All four Napa Racing UK drivers got off the line well, with Cammish maintaining third place. Sutton got by Proctor, who then defended his teammate’s interests by holding off the Plato Racing Mercedes A35 Saloon of Adam Morgan. Further back saw Selby drop down a spot to 14th place, as the Safety Car was deployed for the stricken Team Vertu Hyundia i30N of Ricky Collard which lost power on the opening lap.
As racing resumed on the fourth (of now 14) lap, Proctor lost out to Morgan and Selby dropped another two places to languish down in sixteenth. The number 15 Ford continued fighting with the Power Maxed Racing Audi A3 Saloon of Dexter Patterson, while defending from Daryl De Leon’s WSR BMW 330i M Sport. Sadly, Selby would lose out to De Leon on lap six to drop another position.
Lap five saw Sutton relinquish Cammish of third place on the run through the Campbell and Cobb complex, while the following lap saw Proctor get back past Morgan, who’d ran onto the grass while exiting Allard.
The three front-running Fords soon settled into a steady rhythm, and would take the chequered flag in third (Sutton), fourth (Cammish), and fifth (Proctor). Lewis Selby, meanwhile, finished in sixteenth place after Tom Chilton’s Team Vertu Hyundia i30N fell down the field with a problem on the penultimate lap.
RACE 1 (16 Laps)
Sunday’s opening race saw Ash Sutton start in third place with one lap of boost available. Behind him were teammates Dan Cammish (4th with three laps of boost), Senna Proctor (5th with ten laps of boost), and Lewis Selby (16th with ten laps of boost).
Both Sutton and Cammish got good launches when the lights went out, but Proctor bogged down at the start. However, the number 18 Ford Focus Titanium recovered well to start lap two in fourth place. Sutton and Cammish took the fight to Josh Cook (Speedworks Corolla GR Sport) and Tom Ingram (Team Vertu Hyundia i30N), with Sutton making a brilliant move on the latter on the run through Noble to take second place. Meanwhile, Selby lost out to the Power Maxed Racing Audi A3 Saloon of Aiden Moffat to start the second lap in 17th.
Dan Cammish had to take action to avoid Ingram, who’d gone off at Goodwood, to start lap two in fifth place, right behind teammate Senna Proctor. Further back, Lewis Selby was struggling and lost out to the Team Vertu duo of Tom Chilton and Ricky Collard. But he was back up in 18th place, after Gordon Shedden (Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport Toyota Corolla GR Sport) fell down the field on the sixth lap.
By lap nine, Ash Sutton had closed to within 0.7-seconds of leader Josh Cook’s Toyota Corolla GR Sport, while Senna Proctor remained within touching distance of the Plato Racing Mercedes A35 Saloon of Dan Rowbottom. Dan Cammish was defending vigorously from the recovering Tom Ingram and Adam Morgan, while Lewis Selby was driving his own race in 18th.
The following lap saw Ingram get by Cammish with an excellent pass on the run through the Campbell, Cobb, and Seagrave complex. Adam Morgan tried to take advantage too, but Cammish put in a brilliant defensive drive through Goodwood and Village to thwart the Plato Racing driver.
Sadly, the number 27 Ford Focus Titanium had run out of boost by lap eleven leaving Cammish powerless to keep Morgan at bay. Subsequently, he dropped down to seventh at Club, which is where he’d finish the race.
Ash Sutton took the chequered flag in second to secure yet another podium finish, as Senna Proctor’s impressive drive saw him finish in fourth place. Lewis Selby finished in 17th, after the Hyundia i30N of Ricky Collard was hit with a penalty for exceeding track limits.
RACE 2 (16 Laps)
The start of the second race saw all drivers remain on the hard tyres, as the Napa Racing UK Ford Focus Titaniums lined up on the grid in second (Ash Sutton), fourth (Senna Proctor), seventh (Dan Cammish), and 18th (Lewis Selby). Selby was the only Ford equipped with the full ten laps of boost, while Cammish had eight, Proctor had four, and Sutton had two laps at his disposal.
Selby’s start was aided by Aiden Moffat dropping to the back of the grid after encountering a problem on the formation lap. Selby made a good start to remain in 17th place while up ahead, Sutton got away well to take the lead of the race away from the Toyota of Josh Cook on the run up Brooklands. Cammish finished the opening lap in sixth place, while Proctor was directly behind the number 27 Ford.
Lap two saw the Restart Racing Hyundia i30N of James Dorlin get by Proctor, before Gordon Shedden overtook Selby on the next lap. Up ahead though saw Cammish get by the Plato Racing Mercedes of Adam Morgan at Club to take fifth place.
Mikey Doble (Audi A3 Saloon) got by Senna Proctor on the run through Brooklands and into the Club chicane to drop the number 18 Ford down to ninth on lap four, before the Ford was tagged from behind on the following lap to spin off track and down into fifteenth place! Sadly, that’s where Proctor would finish this race as he took the chequered flag three places ahead of teammate Selby (18th).
Dan Cammish pulled off a superb pass on the outside of the Plato Racing Mercedes of Dan Rowbottom at Club to claim fourth on lap seven. Cammish would go on to swarm all over the rear bumper of Cook’s Toyota Corolla GR Sport for the final podium spot. And he did claim that podium place at the chequered flag, after Tom Ingram received a penalty for exceeding track limits.
Meanwhile, Ash Sutton took another victory to maintain his superb record this season, as he continued to stretch his lead in the Drivers’ Championship table.
RACE 3 (19 Laps)
The third and final race of the weekend at Thruxton was the usual Reversed Grid Race. The Napa Racing UK Ford Focus Titaniums lined up on the grid as follows: Dan Cammish (4th, with three laps of boost available), Ash Sutton (6th, with one lap of boost available), Senna Proctor (15th, with ten laps of boost available), and Lewis Selby (18th, with ten laps of boost available).
Once again, all four Napa Racing UK Fords got away well with Sutton getting the better of Josh Cook swiftly. Both Sutton and Cammish got by the Plato Racing Mercedes of Rowbottom on the run through Goodwood and Village, as the duo entered Church corner in third (Cammish) and fourth (Sutton). The latter then got a good run on his teammate Cammish to take third place at the Club chicane in what was a lively first lap.
Further back, Proctor had jumped up into eighth place while Selby found himself inside the points paying positions (15th) by the end of the opening lap.
However, racing was interrupted by the Safety Car at the start of lap two after several cars had come together. Sadly, Lewis Selby’s Ford Focus Titanium was one of the victims, with what appeared to be a broken rear toe link ending his race prematurely.
Racing eventually resumed on the ninth (of now 19) lap with Sutton third, Cammish fourth, and Proctor eighth. On the exit of Church, Sutton got a great run to take second place away from James Dorlin (Restart Racing Hyundia i30N).
Dan Cammish then took third away from the Restart Racing driver on the inside of the pit straight on the following lap, while Senna Proctor overtook Gordon Shedden (Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport Toyota Corolla GR Sport) before the Club chicane. Proctor followed that up by getting by Rowbottom on lap eleven, then Dorlin on the exit of Church to take fifth place before the end of lap twelve.
The three remaining Ford Focus Titaniums ran to the end of the race to take the chequered flag in second (Ash Sutton), third (Dan Cammish), and fifth places (Senna Proctor) in what were a (relatively) quiet remaining laps in what had been a brilliant race for the Napa Racing UK/Alliance Racing squad.
As the dust settled on another thrilling BTCC spectacle at Thruxton, Ash Sutton remains at the helm of the Drivers’ Championship table with 284 points. Dan Cammish sits in third with 208 points, while Senna Proctor jumped straight into 19th with 31 points. He is flanked by the remaining Napa Racing UK drivers on either side, with Sam Osborne in 18th with 42 points, and Lewis Selby in 20th with 17 points.
Alliance Racing/Ford lead the Manufacturer/Constructors table with 483 points, as well as the Teams’ table with 430 points.
Sam Osborne’s absence meant that he lost ground in the Jack Sears Trophy, as he dropped to fourth place with 166 points. Meanwhile, Lewis Selby occupies fifth with his tally of 159 points.
By Chris Palmer
