Following a successful first full-team run of its hybrid powered Ford Focus ST cars, Dan Cammish emerged as the quickest of Motorbase Performance’s four drivers during officially timed Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship testing at Donington Park.

It was an outing in which the Wrotham team made excellent progress.

Piloting the No.9 NAPA Racing UK entered car, reigning Porsche Carrera Cup GB Champion Cammish ended the first BTCC ‘Hybrid Installation Test’ at the Leicestershire venue’s 1.98-mile National Circuit fourth fastest, just 0.2 seconds shy of the top of the times, with a lap of 1m09.349 seconds.

NAPA Racing UK team-mate Ash Sutton, last year’s BTCC Champion, concluded proceedings eighth on the timesheets a further 0.2 seconds away from Cammish with the pair completing 69 and 76 laps in total respectively.

Ollie Jackson just shaded fellow Apec Racing with Beavis Morgan racer Sam Osborne by a couple of tenths of a second. Evenly matched, and racking up more than 50 laps each in their freshly liveried Fords which were unveiled for the first time prior to the start of the test, Jackson’s best was a lap of 1m10.153 seconds.   

Marking the first collective test for the squads ahead of the new campaign, which will be the first BTCC season utilising hybrid power, the day proved fruitful for Motorbase as the team prepares to head north to Croft Circuit, near Darlington, for next week’s second Hybrid Installation Test.

Oly Collins – Motorbase Performance Team Manager, said of the test:
“Donington went really well, we got a good number of laps under our belts in both qualifying and race trim and learned a lot about the new cars for this season.”

“To have all four cars in full 2022 spec and successfully running hybrid this early is a great achievement for the team, and a credit to the people behind the scenes at Motorbase. Ash and Dan have settled in so well and are clearly a great asset to the team, along with the continuity of Ollie and Sam. There’s a really exciting buzz around the team this year.”

North Yorkshire’s Croft will host the second officially timed test of the BTCC pre-season next Wednesday, 6th April, with the teams then heading to Thruxton Circuit in Hampshire for the annual ‘Media Day’ on Wednesday, 13th April.

Donington Park will host the first three races of the 2022 championship on Sunday, 24th April.

Images courtesy Jakob Ebrey Photography.