NAPA Racing UK heads to Brands Hatch for the final race weekend of the team’s debut BTCC season with reigning championship Ash Sutton in the lead and multiple titles up for grabs.
Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit provides the venue this weekend, 8th/9th October, for the eagerly awaited 2022 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) finale, where the NAPA Racing UK team will be battling for its first ever BTCC crown.
NAPA Racing UK goes into the last three races leading the Teams’ Championship and Ash Sutton heading the Drivers’ Championship, following a strong outing at Silverstone at the end of September.
The BTCC Manufacturers/Constructors title is also up for grabs, with Motorbase Performance/Ford
currently second.
Ash Sutton — the reigning BTCC Champion — has produced an excellent second half of the season,
including three recent wins.
With a total tally of 12 podiums so far this year, the three-time BTCC title winner heads into the finale with a five-point advantage at the top of the Drivers’ standings.
While facing a major challenge in his bid to win the UK’s premier motor racing championship in his first season with Motorbase and NAPA, Sutton is confident going into the Brands finale.
Notably, if he claims the crown for a fourth time, it would be his first BTCC title in a front-wheel drive (FWD) car, in his maiden FWD season since his touring car debut in 2016.
NAPA Racing UK teammate Dan Cammish — eighth in the standings — is aiming for a big finish to his
first campaign with the Motorbase-run squad.
He certainly deserves it after a season badly impacted by some outrageous misfortune.
Having secured his first two podiums of the year during the visit to Brands Hatch’s Indy Circuit back
in May, Cammish then experienced some dreadful luck over the next five race meetings before
finally getting the break he deserved at Thruxton in late August.
There, he took NAPA Racing’s UK’s maiden BTCC pole position and converted it into a phenomenal lights-to-flag victory.
Cammish has also been an outstanding team player this year. After foregoing a second win at Thruxton to enable Sutton to claim the victory and extra points in race two of the weekend, he moved aside again to assist his teammate at Silverstone.
His strong sportsmanship has been vital in getting NAPA Racing UK to where it stands today.
Oly Collins – Motorbase Performance Team Manager said: “This season has had it all but, most importantly for us, we’re aiming for glory in the finale in our own backyard at Brands GP.
“Ash has been here before, and so have a lot of the people in the team.
“We’re top of the Drivers’ and Teams’ Championships going into that last round for a reason.
“At this stage we just need to keep doing what we’ve been doing this season and make our own luck going into the weekend.
“It’s the BTCC and so often things can swing one way and then completely the other.
“Whatever happens, I’m sure it will be a typically tense final BTCC weekend.”