Dan Cammish wins race one at Oulton Park

Credit: BTCC

Race one would get underway with a damp, drying track, posing a difficult challenge for the drivers. Pole sitter, NAPA Racing UK’s Dan Cammish, got away well from the front row, with Ash Sutton moving up to second ahead of Josh Cook and Tom Ingram.

Cook fought back into cascades, making contact with Sutton, who fell down the order after controlling his spin. This allowed Cammish to pull away out front with Cook remaining in second, with Ingram benefitting from Sutton’s misfortune.

Ingram then began to apply significant pressure on Cook for second, as Sutton pulled off an overtake on PMR’s Doble at turn one on lap two to move back up into the top six. Árón Taylor Smith and Plato Racing’s Adam Morgan ran in fourth and fifth and respectively. At the end of lap two, Lewis Selby was squeezed on to the grass by another driver and span off into the barriers at the final corner, but did manage to make his way back to the pits as the safety car was deployed as Selby brought some debris onto the track.

We would go back racing on lap five, with one additional lap being added to bring the total laps to 16. Cammish made a good restart, with Ingram looking to get past Cook. Sutton ran across the grass at the chicane trying to overtake Morgan, and would eventually fall down to eighth as both Aiden Moffat and Mikey Doble took advantage of Sutton’s off track moment.

Credit: BTCC

Onto lap eight, Cook was right on the bumper of Cammish into turn one as they battled for the race lead, with Ingram sitting right behind the Speedworks Toyota. Meanwhile, Shedden continued to make progress on the soft tyre, moving past WSR’s Charles Rainford for 14th place.

Team VERTU’s Tom Chilton and Restart Racing’s Chris Smiley battled hard early on lap nine, but this allowed Dexter Patterson to join the fight for ninth place. Morgan then slowed heading into the final corner, with a clear mechanical problem, allowing Moffat into fifth place ahead of Doble and Sutton.

Cammish put in the fastest lap of the race so far, midway through the opening race of the day, opening a gap between him and Cook, who continued to be under pressure from Ingram. Smiley fell off the back of Sutton as Chilton looked to take advantage of this and move up to eighth as the race headed into its final laps. He would get past into Cascades on lap 13.

Things got worse for Smiley as Daryl DeLeon overtook him later on the same lap. Heading onto the final lap, Sutton began his attack on Doble for sixth place, after fighting on the previous lap, as Chilton sat just behind the NAPA Ford.

Credit: BTCC

Cammish would bring home a commanding win in race one, with Cook and Ingram completing the podium. Then came Taylor Smith, who also wins the Independents class, as Moffat completed the top five. Following the Scotsman came Doble, Sutton, Chilton, Smiley and DeLeon. The top 15 was rounded out by Patterson, Shedden, Sam Osborne, Ricky Collard and Rainford.

The final positions were filled by Dan Rowbottom, James Dorlin, Max Buxton, who returned after withdrawing due to illness yesterday, and then Nicolas Hamilton being the final running driver. Both Morgan and Selby retired after their earlier issues.

Race two is due to get underway at 14:55 local time.