- Ultra-fast Thruxton welcomes BTCC for second visit of season
- Motorbase Performance focused on continuing strong momentum
- Podiums the goal for NAPA Racing UK pair Sutton and Cammish
- Jackson aims to build on season-best, Osborne wants serial points
Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship race winners Motorbase Performance, sponsored by Beavis Morgan, are relishing the category’s return to flat-out Thruxton this weekend, 27th/28th August, for the ante-penultimate event of the season – with sights squarely fixed on big points and more trophies.
Travelling to the Hampshire speedbowl off the back of its second victory of 2022 with NAPA Racing UK’s Ash Sutton just over a week ago at Snetterton, the Wrotham squad is also returning to a track where reigning champion Sutton chalked-up a hat-trick of podiums during the previous visit in May.
Fourth in the championship ahead of the eighth race meeting of the campaign, Sutton is just a single point shy of third position and only 10 points adrift of second place. In total, the Ford Focus ST racer has nine podiums to his credit this year.
Dan Cammish was the fastest of the Motorbase qualifiers at Snetterton a week ago, and was on course for a strong event until being caught-up in a luckless incident early in race two. He will be more determined than ever to get back to where his ability and pace deserve – the BTCC podium.
Likewise, the NAPA Racing UK driver – who has been stateside in recent days working with Australian single-seater racer Marcus Flack – was the top Motorbase performer in qualifying at Thruxton in May, third fastest and just 0.081 seconds shy of pole. Cammish is long overdue some good fortune.
Apec Racing with Beavis Morgan’s Ollie Jackson produced a superb season-best result of ninth place in the third of the scorching hot Snetterton races the weekend before last, capping an impressive event where he made great progress across the board and raced well.
Off the back of his strongest showing of the campaign to date, Jackson will clearly be hoping to harness that and move further forward at Thruxton where there is unfinished business from the May visit – power issues and an enforced engine change badly hampering the third meeting of the year.
Returning to the scene of his first points finish of the season, Sam Osborne is hungry to add more in the sister Apec Racing with Beavis Morgan Ford Focus ST and goes to Thruxton increasingly happy with the direction of travel in terms of set-up
Getting the second half of the season off to a solid start at Knockhill at the end of July, almost making it back into the points-paying top 15, at Snetterton the end results may not have been what he wanted but Osborne raced well and was only prevented from more after some robust contact.
Oly Collins – Motorbase Performance Team Manager:
“We’re getting to the business end of the season now! Another win for Ash last time out was great, now we look to the final three events of the championship. It’s all pretty close at the top between ourselves, BMW and the Hyundais and the Focus was pretty good last time we were at Thruxton earlier this year. We’ve made some clear improvements to the cars since then, so there is no reason why we shouldn’t be right up there. It’s a unique circuit which all drivers seem to love, probably because it needs 100% commitment which, in turn, requires the drivers to have 100% confidence in the car being underneath them. We’re looking forward to it!”
Ash Sutton – NAPA Racing UK, No.1:
“I’m looking forward to heading to Thruxton this weekend! We’re coming off the back of two wins in as many race weekends so confidence is high and everyone at NAPA Racing UK is pushing so hard. We were strong at Thruxton earlier in the year and came away with a hat-trick of podium finishes so I’m feeling confident, especially as we have really moved the car on since then. We’re at a critical point in the season now and we’ve got a little ground to make up so it’ll be maximum attack!”
Dan Cammish – NAPA Racing UK, No.9:
“I’m really looking forward to heading back to Thruxton this weekend, we were fast there earlier in the season and it is a track I’ve always gone well at and really enjoy. We had some good speed at Snetterton and should’ve come away with much more than we did, but as has been the story this year it didn’t work out for us due to factors out of our control. We need a big, consistent weekend and that’s the absolute focus. I’m determined to be back on the podium and get some momentum.”
Ollie Jackson – Apec Racing with Beavis Morgan, No.48:
“Hopefully we’ll be able to start where we left off at Snetterton with a good balance and competitive pace, although Thruxton is a very different track. Our last visit there earlier in the season was pretty challenging with some mechanical issues that set us back but, in reality, we had enough pace to stage a fight from the back of the grid almost into the points, so I’m optimistic. Our understanding of the Hybrid car is growing round by round and I’m now getting to grips with the driving style needed, so I’m positive about turning out some points finishes and stay in the running for the reverse grid.”
Sam Osborne – Apec Racing with Beavis Morgan, No.77:
“We’ve been making good steps recently, I’ve been racing well and we’ve had good pace in the car so hopefully that can continue at Thruxton. We obviously got into the points when we were there in the Spring, and had a good run into the top 12 at Thruxton last year, so we have put in some good performances there. There’s no other track on the calendar like Thruxton, you need the car working well to provide the confidence to take it to the limit – hopefully we’ll have that.”
Wishing all the best to the entire team for a successful weekend of racing.
Timings and details:
Free practice at Thruxton will start at 09.30 on Saturday, 27th August, with the second session following at 12.05 and qualifying – which will be streamed live online at the www.itv.com/btcc website – getting underway at 15.25.
Round 22 of the season will begin at 11.45 on Sunday, 28th August, round 23 will commence at 14.35 and round 24 is set to start at 17.20. All three races will be streamed live online and screened live on ITV4.
2022 BTCC Drivers Championship
4th Ash Sutton, 257pts; 12th Dan Cammish, 109pts; 22nd Ollie Jackson, 19pts; 25th Sam Osborne, 1pt
2022 BTCC Manufacturers/Constructors Championship
3rd Motorbase Performance/Ford, 480pts
2022 BTCC Teams Championship
3rd NAPA Racing UK, 364pts; 13th Apec Racing with Beavis Morgan, 24pts
2022 Jack Sears Trophy
4th Sam Osborne, 240pts
For all the latest news regarding Motorbase Performance visit www.motorbaseperformance.co.uk