The UK’s premier motorsport series – the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – heads north to Croft for the fourth outing on its 2019 calendar this weekend (15/16 June), with a trio of Yorkshire stars all aiming to reach the top step of the rostrum on home soil.
The popular North Yorkshire circuit will play host to a grid of 30 top-tier tin-top protagonists, with the promise of plenty of wheel-to-wheel action to entertain the crowds at a track that has established itself as a firm favourite amongst drivers and spectators alike. What’s more, local fans will have three homegrown heroes to cheer on.Halfords Yuasa Racing’s Dan Cammish (Leeds) is the highest-placed of the Yorkshire racers following a superb showing at Thruxton last time out, where he recorded a brace of podium finishes to vault up to eighth in the overall standings arriving at Croft.
“I was over-the-moon to come away from Thruxton with two podiums and a sixth,” the 30-year-old acknowledged. “The Honda Civic Type R felt solid all weekend and has put me back in the title fight. Coming from the north-east, Croft is really classed as my home circuit and I've raced here many times.
“During the break, I went on holiday and have come back well-rested and up for the fight. I’ll be all guns blazing now to keep my points tally increasing and close the gap on the championship lead.”
Bradford-born Sam Tordoff similarly carries momentum from a positive Thruxton weekend, which saw him finish on the rostrum for the first time this season. The 2016 championship runner-up looks toward his home event with renewed confidence, following a difficult start to his 2019 campaign.
“It’s nice to be back in Yorkshire and have a short journey to and from the track,” the Cobra Sport AmD AutoAid/RCIB Insurance ace reflected. “I’m excited to race here in the Honda Civic – that will be new for me. The track resurfacing will also make things interesting. From what I’ve heard, it is now two or three seconds quicker than before, so I’m excited to get out there and see what happens.
“We turned a corner at Thruxton, scored some points and I need to carry that momentum into Croft and have another good showing. Croft has a mixture of high-speed sections – particularly out the back and into Sunny In – with slow, technical parts at the beginning and end of the lap. It’s got a bit of everything, which poses quite a challenge for the engineers to find the ‘sweet spot’. It’s important that we go to this part of the country and there’s a huge motorsport following in Yorkshire – I can’t wait to go racing this weekend!”
Driffield’s Senna Proctor is likewise targeting strong results at his local circuit behind the wheel of his Subaru Levorg. The 20-year-old took the chequered flag third in race three at Croft in 2018, and is hoping to replicate that result this year.
“This season has been really up-and-down so far,” he mused. “We have had some positive races but some bad ones as well. It's been a big learning curve for me switching to rear wheel-drive, but now I am looking forward to racing in front of the Yorkshire crowd at Croft. I really enjoy the circuit and the Subaru seems to go quite well around here, so it should be a match made in heaven.
“Croft is a great track and I can’t wait to race here again. I think it’s the only circuit where I didn’t have a podium in other categories, so to get third last year in the BTCC was really special.”
The BTCC will be joined by a host of action-packed support series throughout the weekend, including the Porsche Carrera Cup GB, Renault UK Clio Cup, F4 British Championship and Ginetta Juniors and GT4s.
Tickets to the BTCC’s only north-eastern event of the year are still available to purchase on the gate, priced at just £15 for Saturday entry (BTCC Qualifying), £30 for Sunday (BTCC Race Day) or £39 for the full weekend. Accompanied children aged 12 and under are admitted free of charge, with tickets for 13-to-15-year-olds beginning at £5. Further details can be seen at: www.croftcircuit.co.uk/racing/btcc.
