Motorbase Performance wrapped-up an extremely positive two-day Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship test at a scorching hot Snetterton 300 Circuit on Wednesday with NAPA Racing UK’s Ash Sutton and Dan Cammish delivering searing pace in the Norfolk heat for the Wrotham squad.
Ending up with the quickest time overall for the entire test, reigning BTCC Champion Sutton set his best lap of 1m55.121 seconds (92.84mph) on the second morning using Goodyear’s soft ‘option’ tyre. Cammish, in the sister blue and yellow Ford Focus ST, was a mere 0.015 seconds shy to secure a superb top two lockout – notably running the regular Goodyear race tyre.
Cammish was also third overall on Tuesday, 12th July, and only 0.008 seconds away from the top of the day one timesheets – a real boost for Kent’s Motorbase and NAPA Racing UK as the team prepares to get the second half of the season underway in a couple of weeks.
In the Apec Racing with Beavis Morgan cars, Sam Osborne was 20th overall on Tuesday with Ollie Jackson 22nd fastest. On the second day at Snetterton 300, Jackson was 23rd on the combined timesheets while Osborne was 26th overall – both drivers focusing on a raft of set-up changes and their impact, rather than seeking out-and-out lap times.
Conducting a very full programme across its quartet of BTCC cars, Motorbase also fielded a third NAPA Racing UK liveried Ford on Tuesday, 12th July – the car which was piloted at the Goodwood Festival of Speed by Cammish and NAPA’s Lewis Selby.
Nick Tandy, Le Mans 24 Hours Winner and team boss of top Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship squad JTR, shared driving duties with Motorbase Driver Academy racer Jack Mitchell. Tandy then remained with Motorbase for day two, this time switching to Osborne’s Apec Racing with Beavis Morgan car and providing vital input and coaching.
Oly Collins – Motorbase Performance Team Manager:
“This test has come at the right time for us and from what we’ve learned over the two days across the cars feels very positive. Dan’s pace, in particular, has been very impressive over the two days. Ash had a full day on Wednesday working with Goodyear on development tyres, so it was less about ultimate pace but a lot of hard work with Goodyear on tyres opposed to car set up – but the car is clearly in a good place looking at the times. Ollie and Sam worked through some different development ideas as well as being joined by Jack Mitchell on day one and Nick Tandy across the two days. It’s been great working with those two as well.
“Across the four cars we’ve been able to work in different ways and testing very different things, a test like this gives you the chance to try stuff you wouldn’t normally be able to on a race weekend. So now we have all the data, the engineers have a lot of work to do to analyse everything to confirm all of the positives and negatives. The cars have been fantastically reliable, especially in this heat, so full credit to the whole Motorbase crew behind the scenes who have worked their socks off! Hopefully we can carry the momentum into the next event at Knockhill despite the two circuits being so different!”
Ash Sutton – NAPA Racing UK, No.1:
“We worked all day with Goodyear with the soft option tyre on day two, trying things for them going forward, so I took the limelight away from Dan a bit as he achieved his best time on raw pace and that was more realistic. It’s been a good test, we’ve found some positives as a whole and I think we can all be happy with where we are. I’m not sure what to expect for Knockhill, it’s such a different track, but I’m excited and looking forward to it as it is one of my favourite tracks. It’s a real challenge and it reminds me of my karting days!”
Dan Cammish – NAPA Racing UK, No.9:
“It’s been a really constructive couple of days, lots worked through and the guys have been great – they’ve not stopped really. It’s been a great opportunity to try some car set-ups you wouldn’t usually get to try on a race weekend. It’s been warm, quite tough conditions, but a really good couple of days that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed. We’ve worked through a programme, had some really good speed and set what was, ultimately, the fastest time of the entire test as I was on the normal race tyre. It’s great to get a one-two for NAPA Racing UK, all good and onward to Knockhill now.”
Ollie Jackson – Apec Racing with Beavis Morgan, No.48:
“We focused on running through suites of individual set-up changes, and it was a pretty successful couple of days from that perspective. Everyone worked hard and we found a few interesting aspects of the car, some of which were probably contradictory to some of the changes we’ve made recently. We’ve got a better understanding of the car now so I think we’re in a good position, although with Knockhill next it’s a one-off track so you can never tell where you are until you’re actually there!”
Sam Osborne – Apec Racing with Beavis Morgan, No.77:
“We found out some little tricks with the car over the last couple of days, so we’re definitely moving in the right direction – fingers crossed we make some steps forward during the second half of the season. It’s been boiling with the weather, so we’ve focused on keeping plenty of fluids and staying well hydrated, but it’s been two good days. Working with Nick [Tandy] has been absolutely mega, he’s a fantastic driver and has given lots of great feedback which I can take forward.”
The second half of the BTCC season gets underway just over a fortnight from now, over the weekend 30th/31st July, at Knockhill Circuit in Scotland.
2022 BTCC Drivers Championship
4th Ash Sutton, 171pts; 11th Dan Cammish, 86pts; 22nd Ollie Jackson, 9pts; 25th Sam Osborne, 1pt
2022 BTCC Manufacturers/Constructors Championship
3rd Motorbase Performance/Ford, 346pts
2022 BTCC Teams Championship
2nd NAPA Racing UK, 259pts; 13th Apec Racing with Beavis Morgan, 14pts
2022 Jack Sears Trophy
4th Sam Osborne, 164pts
Image courtesy of Jakob Ebrey Photography.