BTCC: Dan the Man Surges into Title Contention

A difficult weekend for championship leaders Colin Turkington and Andrew Jordan opened the door for others to bring themselves into contention for the BTCC title as the series headed to Thruxton for the second time in 2019.

It was Team Dynamics’ Dan Cammish who took the most advantage winning race three to back up a second and fifth placed finish in races one and two to close right up to Jordan in second in the standings. Joe Ellis takes you through the events of the BTCC’s second trip to Thruxton this year.

Qualifying

Just like in May when the BTCC first visited the Hampshire circuit, it was AmD’s Sam Tordoff who took pole position, narrowly beating out the man who everyone was talking about after Snetterton Jason Plato who would line up second for race one.

It was an unusually quiet session for the stewards as Michael Crees was the only driver to have a lap time deleted for track limits. Turkington and Jordan were both outside the top ten in a session dominated by front-wheel drive and Honda. Tom Oliphant the only rear-wheel drive car in that top ten in seventh place.

Race One

Drama before the race began as Plato overshot his grid slot and as a result he was slapped with a drive-through penalty which dropped him out of contention. Other than that, the start was fairly uneventful as those towards the front stayed in order. Plato took his penalty at the end of lap two which promoted Cammish to second but the 30kg of success ballast he was carrying halted any opportunity he had of catching and overtaking Tordoff’s ballast-free Honda.

Further down the field, Ash Sutton and Matt Neal (both recovering after a disappointing qualifying) worked tandem to force their way up the field, passing Turkington, Jordan, Ingram and Smiley to eventually finish eighth and ninth.

Despite his best efforts in the closing laps, Cammish couldn’t make a move on Tordoff who held on to win his first race of the season. A revitalised Adam Morgan finished third ahead of Josh Cook.

Podium: Tordoff; Cammish; Morgan

Race Two

Another brilliant launch for Tordoff and he was well clear into the complex for the first time as Cammish had a horror start to drop down to seventh. Tordoff wasn’t ahead for long as at the end of lap four, Morgan sent one down the inside of the Honda into the hairpin but he still didn’t lead as Cook sweeped round the outside of both to lead over the line.

Rory Butcher had survived well in race one to finish inside the top ten but he tumbled down the order somewhat in race two as Neal, Jordan, Sutton, Turkington and Ingram all followed through as the Scot got beaten up. Tordoff did a fine job in defending for a number of laps from a huge train of cars but eventually he succumbed to the pressure. Oliphant was first through before both Dynamics Hondas and Jordan went right on by. Tordoff eventually finished tenth.

No one could catch Cook after he’d dispatch of Tordoff and he took his third win of the year and first since the previous visit to Thruxton. He beat Morgan who took a second podium of the weekend ahead of Neal who pulled off a stunning outside pass on Oliphant at the chicane on the final lap.

Podium: Cook; Morgan; Neal

Race Three

The luck wasn’t with WSR and BMW this weekend as – having finished seventh and ninth in race two – ball number six was drawn out of the bowl meaning Rob Collard would start from pole. The BMWs of Jordan and Turkington would have to start where they finished. An extra formation lap was taken as Butcher stop on the formation lap with clutch issues and couldn’t be pushed aside in time, reducing the race distance to 15 laps.

Collard was able to hold the lead despite Oliphant’s good start from third while further back there were three-wide many rows back through the complex, a minor miracle that everyone stayed pointing in the right direction. Cammish, who started second, recovered his starting position by copying his teammate Neal’s move from race two with Oliphant again the victim of the Honda’s super late-braking capabilities.

Turkington continued to be mired in the mid-field as he dropped to 13th by the end of the race. Lap ten saw the move that won the race for Cammish as rain began to fall heavier and heavier, Collard had a big twitch at Church and the momentum Cammish had was enough to see him clear the Vauxhall into the braking zone to the chicane. The rain then began to pelt down making the closing laps incredibly treacherous but remarkably, everyone managed the conditions and there were no major incidents as Cammish finally took his first win of 2019 after eight previous podiums. He was followed home by Collard and Neal squeezed into the final podium place as he passed oliphant on the penultimate lap. The BMW driver would eventually finish seventh behind Morgan, Plato and Cook.

Podium: Cammish; Collard; Neal

Championship

Turkington’s lead is slashed but only slightly as Jordan similarly struggled but it was Cammish and Cook who were the big winners, Cammish four points behind Jordan with Cook a further four adrift.

The BTCC next heads above the border for the one and only time of the season to Knockhill, Scotland on 14th-15th September where rear-wheel drive is suited so there’s no doubting that Turkington will be looking to be much closer to the front, but can he hold off the chasing pack?