Halfords Yuasa Racing’s Dan Cammish scored a brace of podium finishes at the BTCC’s first trip to Thruxton of 2019, resulting in the outfit moving to the top of the Teams’ standings, and further consolidating Honda’s lead in the Manufacturers’ Championship.

Cammish started Race 1 from the outside of the front row and, after dropping one position off the start line to eventual race winner Andrew Jordan, he held onto third and the final podium spot. In the second Honda, Matt Neal gained one place from his grid position to finish seventh after a race-long duel with former champion Ashley Sutton.

It was same again for Cammish in Race 2, the Civic Type R holding onto the leading duo for all 16 laps and completing the podium for the second time of the day. Neal, meanwhile, worked his way up the field to ensure both Hondas finished in the top five.

A threat of rain lingered over the final race, but never amounted to any more than light drizzle. Starting seventh and ninth on the reversed grid, both Neal and Cammish avoided a first lap crash, which helped them progress to fourth and sixth respectively. The pair of Civic Type Rs stayed out of trouble for the remainder of the race to complete a strong points haul for the team.

With six strong results from the meeting, Honda extended its lead in the Manufacturers’ standings to 15 points over BMW, and the Halfords Yuasa Racing jumped to the top of the Teams’ standings, again heading Team BMW. Both Neal and Cammish also now sit in the top ten of the Drivers’ Championship.

“We were pipped to the podium at the end, but I’m taking the positives out of it," said Neal. "Between the two cars we’ve had six decent top ten finishes, and we scored good points in the Drivers’, Manufacturers’ and Teams’ Championships.”

“This is probably the strongest weekend I’ve had in the British Touring Car Championship – to come away with two thirds and a sixth, to score 41 points, it’s a mega day,” added Cammish.