DOUBLE FIGURES AT DONINGTON
01 Sep 2025
NAPA Racing UK made it ten wins for the seasons after battling a performance on track in the latest rounds of the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship at Donington Park.
The Alliance Racing-run squad headed into round eight of the season holding a slender lead in both the Manufacturers’ and Teams’ Championships with Ash Sutton, Dan Cammish and Dan Rowbottom all inside the top four in the standings.
BTCC Practice & Qualifying:
Having scored two wins around the Donington Park Grand Prix layout last season, the team was optimistic about its chances of further success and started out well after Rowbottom topped the opening practice session, with Ash Sutton and Dan Cammish also lapping inside the top ten.
In celebration of the technical partnership between NAPA and Valvoline, Ash and Dan Cammish’s Ford Focuses sported a one-off livery inspired by the 1995 Ford Mondeo.
All four drivers would be drawn in Group 2 for the first stage of qualifying, with Rowbottom leading the way ahead of Sutton and Cammish as the trio progressed to Q2, with Sam Osborne having to settle for 17th on the grid.
Rain that had been in the air as qualifying kicked off then started to fall during Q2 and it would result in disappointment as the three remaining NAPA Racing UK driver failed to make it through to the Quick Six, with Cammish and Rowbottom in seventh and eighth place, and Sutton in eleventh.
BTCC Race 1:
Although Osborne bolted on the hard tyre for race one, the remaining three drivers went with the medium compound and made the most of the pace in the Ford Focus ST to storm through the pack.
Rowbottom led the challenge as he raced his way to third spot for a seventh podium of the year, with Sutton and Cammish close behind in 4th and 5th. Osborne meanwhile finished just outside of the points in 16th, but having got the slower tyre option out of the way.
BTCC Race 2:
Rowbottom was forced onto the hard tyre for race two and slipped behind Sutton at the start, with Cammish holding onto fifth when the safety car was called after an incident at McLeans.
Drama on the restart saw both Sutton and Rowbottom lose ground after they got caught up in a clash at turn one, with Cammish taking advantage to nip through into second spot. From there, he wasted little time in overhauling leader Tom Ingram and was leading his 200th race in the series before a sudden downpour with three laps to go.
That rains saw Cammish – and much of the field behind – go off track at McLeans but having managed to retain the lead, he wrapped up victory as the race ended behind the safety car.
Despite dropping down to 13th, Sutton fought his way back through the field to end up in eighth with Rowbottom in twelfth, whilst Osborne recovered from being caught up in the lap one incident to fight his way back into the points in 13th.
BTCC Race 3:
The reverse grid put Sutton on pole for race three, but he faced a challenge to stay out front on the hard tyre.
Despite that, he produced a battling drive to go wheel-to-wheel with title rival Ingram, before finishing in second, with Rowbottom benefitting from the switch back onto the medium tyre to battle his way through to third place and a second podium finish of the weekend.
Cammish would end his weekend on the hard tyre in twelfth, with Osborne two spots back to bag more championship points of his own.
BTCC Standings:
Sutton, Cammish and Rowbottom end the weekend still holding second, third and fourth in the standings with the Alliance Racing team a point clear in the Manufacturers’ title race.
MINI Challenge:
Although NAPA Racing UK’s JCW class weren’t in action at Donington Park, driver Cam Richardson made a second outing in the Cooper category with the Wera Alliance Racing Academy team.
Having earned a place on the front row despite being forced to park his car early in qualifying with a holed radiator, Richardson battled his way to a best finish of second in the final race of the weekend, which marked the first time he had stepped onto the Cooper podium.
