A WEEKEND TO REMEMBER FOR NAPA RACING UK AT DONINGTON PARK

28 Apr 2025

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NAPA Racing UK enjoyed a fine start to the new Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship season with two wins from three at a sweltering Donington Park.

The Alliance Racing-run squad headed into the season opener looking to challenge for a strong haul of points, and would be involved in the sharp end throughout, with Ash Sutton, Dan Cammish and Dan Rowbottom all lapping inside the top ten during two free practice sessions.

QUALIFYING

Cammish topped his group in the first stage of qualifying, with Rowbottom also progressing, before Sutton emerged at the head of group two to put three NAPA Racing cars through to Q2. Sam Osborne missed out by just 0.047s, which would leave him 14th on the grid.

The three remaining drivers progressed through to the Quick Six battle, where Cammish edged Sutton for pole by just 0.011s to lock out the front row, with Rowbottom securing fourth.

RACE 1

Sutton grabbed the lead from Cammish at the start of the opening race and led all the way to the flag despite the challenge of having to try and manage the soft tyres fitted to his car – giving him the first victory of the post-hybrid era.

Also running on the soft tyre, Cammish saw his chance of a podium finish ended by a puncture whilst running in third spot, but the deployment of the safety car allowed him to latch onto the rear of the field and then charge his way back through to eighth at the finish.

One of those to benefit from Cammish’s misfortune was Rowbottom as he came through to take third place, with Osborne bagging the final point in 15th.

Race 2

Osborne was unable to take the start of the second race due to an issue with the clutch on his car, but the remaining trio again showed the pace in the Ford Focus ST, with Sutton repeating his earlier performance to score a second win of the weekend.

Cammish continued to battle back from his race one puncture with a strong run through to the podium, grabbing third on the penultimate lap, with Rowbottom adding more solid points to his tally in fifth.

Race 3

With the top six reversed for the weekend finale, Sutton made the most of being on the medium tyre to fight his way to third spot to add another podium to his tally and cement his position as championship leader after round one, with Cammish finishing just shy of the podium in fourth.

Rowbottom made it three top six finishes in sixth, although Osborne was unable to make it into the points and had to settle for 18th after hectic battles in the expanded field.

BTCC STANDINGS

Sutton heads the championship standings after the first round with Cammish and Rowbottom in fourth and fifth, with NAPA Racing UK sharing top spot in the Team’s Championship ahead of round two at Brands Hatch.

MINI CHALLENGE

The Vertu MINI Challenge opener proved to be a weekend to remember for the four-strong NAPA Racing UK line-up, with Jamie Osborne becoming the first driver to score three wins on a single weekend since the 2018 season.

Osborne qualified on the front row and was in dominant form across the three races, with his run from ninth on the grid to first in the second race of the weekend being particularly impressive.

Having also bagged two fastest laps, he came away from the weekend having already established a 32-point lead in the standings ahead of the next round at Snetterton.

Lewis Selby holds third in the early season race having picked up two podium finishes from the three races, chasing Osborne home in race one in a NAPA Racing 1-2, and then finishing third in race three. The only blot on his copybook would come in race two, when he was forced into a mid-race pitstop that dropped him off the lead lap.

JCW newcomers Cam Richardson and Alex Solley both showed their pace, but with contrasting end results. Richardson finished third on the road in race two before track limits penalties dropped him down out of the top ten and had to settle for a best finish of seventh, whilst Solley posted the fastest lap in his first JCW race as he picked up a pair of eleventh places. Unfortunately, his weekend would end in retirement when he was forced off avoiding a spinning rival in the final race.

As well as topping the Driver’s championship, NAPA Racing UK Blue – comprising of Osborne and Selby – tops the Team’s Championship.