NAPA RACING UK SIGNS OFF WITH VICTORY
08 Oct 2024
NAPA Racing UK brought the curtain down on the 2024 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship season with victory in the final race of the campaign at Brands Hatch.
The Alliance Racing-run team headed into the final weekend of competition having already wrapped up one title, with Ash Sutton, Dan Cammish, Dan Rowbottom and Sam Osborne having combined to secure an unassailable lead in the Teams’ Championship with a round to spare.
Both Sutton and Cammish also retained a mathematical chance of taking the Drivers’ Championship crown, although the pair were both aware that they would need a big dose of luck to be on their side.
PRACTICE & QUALIFYING
Regardless of that fact, the weekend started in positive fashion as Sutton, Rowbottom and Cammish all showed top ten pace during free practice around the full Grand Prix circuit, and the trio then successfully made it through the first stage of qualifying – although Osborne would be knocked out in his group to leave him 18th on the grid for race one.
Having topped his Q1 group, Sutton then headed Q2 to make it to the Quick Six element of the session but Cammish and Rowbottom were knocked out to qualify in tenth and twelfth, with Sutton ultimately going on to secure third.
RACE 1
Sutton made a strong start when race one kicked off to immediately jump into second place going through Paddock Hill Bend, but his title hopes were then ended at Druids when he was caught up in contact from behind that left his car beached in the gravel with damaged suspension.
Cammish had benefitted from the incident ahead to move up six spots on the opening lap and would ultimately end the race in fifth after a long battle with the Vauxhall of Aron Taylor-Smith, although the result wasn’t enough to keep him in championship contention either – meaning the focus turned towards simply maximising the points score across the weekend.
Rowbottom was able to avoid the dramas to work his way forwards into eighth spot, with Osborne also grabbing points as he climbed six spots from his starting position to finish in twelfth.
RACE 2
From fifth on the grid for race two, Cammish was able to get ahead of Mikey Doble’s Vauxhall on the opening lap to sit fourth and would remain in position through to the finish as he was unable to keep pace with the top three ahead.
Behind came a charging Sutton, who had worked his way forwards from 19th on the grid to sit inside the top ten within two laps, and found himself running fifth behind Cammish by the end of lap three.
Sutton would look for a way ahead before eventually settling for fifth spot, with Osborne continuing to make forward progress from qualifying as he added another top ten finish to his resume.
For Rowbottom however, there would be disappointment when he suffered a puncture that saw him run through the gravel at Paddock Hill Bend before pulling off track to retire.
RACE 3
The reverse grid draw put Sutton and Cammish on the second row of the grid for race three in wet conditions, with Sutton running second behind Josh Cook in the early stages before nipping ahead on lap six and he was able to race away from the field behind to take his third win of the year by a margin of more than ten seconds.
Not only was that the largest winning margin seen all year, it was the first time a driver had won a BTCC race by more than ten seconds since Round 12 of the 2006 season at Thruxton.
FINAL STANDINGS
That win secured third in the standings for Sutton, with Cammish finishing just off the podium in fourth spot, leaving him level in the standings with Colin Turkington but having to settle for fifth due to his rival having more race wins.
Osborne signed off with his best result of the year in seventh and winning the Jack Sears trophy for the weekend, with Rowbottom battling hard in the pack to bring home the final point in 15th.
MINI CHALLENGE
Brands Hatch also saw the Vertu MINI CHALLENGE season come to an end, with Cameron Richardson still in contention for the first JCW Sport title.
Although he lost ground to leader Dylan Hotchin in the opening race, Richardson secured a hard-fought win in race two to take the title to the wire after Hotchin went off into the gravel and ended the season with a second place in race two – although Hotchin got the points he needed to wrap up the championship and leave Richardson in second.
In the JCW category, Jamie Osborne’s hopes of ending the season as runner-up to Dan Zelos took a hit when he was forced to retire from race one after an unfortunate clash on the second lap, but he battled his way through the field from the back in race two to grab a podium having gained nine spots.
FINAL STANDINGS
Fourth place in the season finale saw him end the year fourth in the championship standings, with Lewis Selby – already comfortably confirmed as the Directors Cup winner – only missing out the top six by seven points after picking up a best finish of fifth from the three races.
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