Dan Cammish: “I didn’t make it easy!”

Dan Cammish insisted that he was delighted to secure his second career pole in the British Touring Car Championship to top a perfect day on track at Thruxton.

The Team Dynamics driver led the way in both free practice sessions at the Hampshire circuit but then gave himself a scare in qualifying when he ran off on his opening lap and was forced to pit to have grass removed from the radiator.

Out of sync with his rivals in the session as a result, Cammish responded with a lap record-breaking performance to snare pole ahead of the Toyota of Tom Ingram and will now seek to make up ground in the title race with a strong performance on race day.

“I’m delighted with a clean sweep but I didn’t make it easy,” he said. “You only have one lap on the tyres round here as it is so abrasive and there is that one chance to deliver the lap.

“I made a mess of turn one when bravery passed talent and the radiator got full of grass and I knew I would have to pit. However, I knew the car had the speed and I kept my head and knew that on the second set of tyres I could be somewhere near the front.

“The guys deserve it and it’s great to come to Honda’s home track and show how quick we are. The car felt better than ever and I think the wind today has helped us. Down the back of the main straight the wind is behind us, and then through Goodwood and Noble it was coming towards us which gave us a lot of front downforce and gave me more confidence to turn it at speed – much more than last year. The car handles well and we know we have a strong engine that suits this kind of layout where you are high up in the RPM.

“I’ve won two races and Tom will want to win tomorrow, but I want a victory and anything else will feel like a disappointment. However, I need to score good points for the championship. Last year was where we started to fight back and I hope that with three races tomorrow and then four more rounds to come, we can start to chase down the top two.”