Dan Cammish knows what it takes to win Porsche Carrera Cup GB races. His 31 triumphs in a three-year period of domination of the series is proof of that. And, yet, on his return this season, he had only added one more win to his tally – an inherited victory in the Snetterton opener. That changed at Croft and he was back to leading the points.
Cammish looked to be the driver to beat all weekend and sticking his Redline machine on pole at his home circuit by almost half a second, in a campaign that has featured such tight margins, was a real signal of intent.
He duly converted that pole into a largely straightforward win over erstwhile points leader Lorcan Hanafin in the opener. “We’ve struggled recently for speed,” said Cammish. “We’ve had the car in bits a few times and found a damper issue and changed a few things. It feels like this is going to be a turning point – I think it’s come good at the right time.”
There was drama further back as reigning champion Harry King and Will Martin scrapped frantically for third on the opening lap. King initially grabbed the place with a bold dive down the inside at Sunny In. But Martin fought back through the complex before then clouting the rear of King’s Team Parker Porsche at the hairpin, which damaged King’s car, to move ahead. Martin kept the place, despite his radiator bursting late on, but was given a grid penalty for race two.
It looked like Hanafin would strike back in the title fight in race two after making a blistering start to lead from third. But, after losing his large initial gap as Kiern Jewiss and Cammish closed in, he then smashed into the tyre stack at the chicane on lap three and was out instantly.
From there, Jewiss resisted every attempt Cammish threw at him to take an impressive win, while Lewis Plato was third after Martin picked up a track limits penalty. “We were far from the quickest car this weekend,” said Jewiss. “So I knew it would have to be a defending masterclass if I wanted to hold on, so it was about trying not to make any mistakes and focus on the exits.”
And that is exactly what he did – unlike Hanafin, with that error proving costly, as Cammish now enjoys the upper hand by eight points.
McKenzy Cresswell, British F4, Croft 2021
Photo by: Jakob Ebrey
McKenzy Cresswell bounced back from a disastrous Thruxton event to claim two consummate British F4 successes at Croft – the first time he has won non-reversed-grid races in single-seaters. The 15-year-old, JHR Developments-run rookie set things up with a double pole and led every lap of the two main events.
Championship-leading team-mate Matthew Rees qualified on the front row for the first race, and attempted to brave it out around the outside of Cresswell at Tower on lap one. But that left Rees vulnerable to attack from Joel Granfors, and the Swedish Fortec Motorsport ace got alongside into the Jim Clark Esses before claiming the inside line and second place at Barcroft.
Rees attempted to fight back, but as the race wore on his main focus became Matias Zagazeta behind although the Peruvian was unable to make a move.
Cresswell was never threatened in the final race, but there was plenty of interest behind. Aiden Neate got ahead of Joseph Loake for third when Loake ran wide at the hairpin at the end of the fourth lap, and closed in on second-placed Argenti team-mate Zagazeta. They went side-by-side at the Jim Clark Esses but Zagazeta just held on, while Granfors pulled off a superb move on Rees for fourth at Clark. Rees is now five points behind Zagazeta in the title contest.
Dougie Bolger’s shunt into the complex barriers in qualifying put him on pole for the reversed-grid race. The Anglo-Japanese led throughout, withstanding an attack from Carlin team-mate Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak in the closing stages.
Tom Hibbert, Ginetta GT4 Supercup, Croft 2021
Photo by: Jakob Ebrey
It was advantage Tom Hibbert as the pendulum in his Ginetta GT4 Supercup title battle with Adam Smalley once again swung in his favour.
Hibbert’s weekend got off to a good start with pole for the opener and the Rob Boston Racing man then scorched away from the grid to build a healthy lead. Unfortunately for Hibbert, it was quickly negated by a safety car, but he managed the gap to Smalley thereafter, despite being concerned by the amount of debris on the track. Smalley’s fellow Elite Motorsport driver Josh Rattican completed the rostrum, having passed James Blake-Baldwin at the hairpin.
Hibbert also led much of the second race but, on the final lap, a wide moment brought Smalley within striking distance. Sure enough, he went for a move at the hairpin and successfully dived ahead, only to be given a penalty for passing with more than one wheel over the white line – a sanction Smalley disagreed with, believing he was already ahead by that point.
Nevertheless, he regained some ground in race three – won by Rattican, who dived past Carlito Miracco at the hairpin – by finishing third, while Hibbert was fifth. All of that means Smalley’s lead has been halved to six points with two events to go.
A grid penalty and 30-point championship deduction for colliding with Sam Weller in race two may have taken the shine off Dan Zelos’s Croft weekend, but he still managed to extend his advantage over Excelr8 Motorsport team-mate Max Bird.
A processional opener looked like it would go the way of Jack Davidson. That was until the hairpin on the penultimate tour, when Zelos grabbed the lead – despite admitting he was not expecting to make a move. “I thought I’d just see what happens and the gap was there and I thought I would put my car there,” said Zelos. “Jack isn’t an easy one to pass so I was pleased with that.”
The eventful second race began with reversed-grid polesitter Ronan Pearson going straight on at Clervaux and handing the lead to Isaac Smith before red flags flew with multiple Minis stranded out on circuit. Smith led throughout after the restart to take his first win of the year, surviving a wide moment exiting Sunny, while Bird – fourth in the opener, behind Lewis Brown – looked to have clawed some points back on Zelos with second. But he was later demoted to seventh for contact with Pearson at Tower, promoting Max Coates and Ru Clark to second and third.
Magnus Kriklywi, Ginetta GT5 Challenge, Croft 2021
Photo by: Jakob Ebrey
There was a chance for other drivers to shine in the Ginetta GT5 Challenge as it made its second appearance alongside the British Touring Car Championship this season at Croft last weekend, with the championship’s regular frontrunners enduring a difficult weekend.
Runaway points leader Josh Steed missed out on the chance of sealing the crown with an event to spare after he could only qualify fifth and take a best result of third across the two races, despite closest rival John Bennett failing to finish higher than fifth – a grid penalty lingering from the previous round at Snetterton not helping his cause.
Instead it was four-time BMW Compact Cup champion Steven Dailly who stormed to a double pole on his very first appearance in the category. However, it was another unfamiliar name to the front of the grid, Nat Hodgkiss, who took the lead at the start of race one as Dailly lost out.
Dailly soon fell prey to a determined Magnus Kriklywi at Tower, with the top three running very close together. That was until Hodgkiss went straight on at Clervaux and fell to third, before the safety car was deployed. There was time for one further racing lap and it proved to be a dramatic one as Hodgkiss squeezed ahead of Dailly at Tower, with the latter suffering a puncture after contact as he was denied a dream podium result. Instead it was Kriklywi who got to take his first win in the category, the Race Car Consultants driver previously managing a best result of third.
But it was not to be a 1-2 for the team as Hodgkiss was demoted behind Connor Gray having overtaken him by cutting the chicane and not giving the place back.
After his race-one disappointment, Dailly was fired up for race two and put in a brilliant defensive display to resist the pressure of Kriklywi in a contest that featured a safety car period after some terrible driving on the opening tour, including Chris White being disqualified.
Steed claimed third from Mikey Doble late on to ensure that he maintains a healthy lead in the championship, despite the Xentek driver failing to win on a weekend for the first time this season. Instead, Croft was the turn for other drivers to show their star potential.
Mallory Park HSCC: Harrison’s Classic FF1600 double as titles decided
Jordan Harrison (Lola T540E), Classic FF1600, Mallory Park 2021
Photo by: Mick Walker
Some close racing and the settling of championship titles featured on the return of the Historic Sports Car Club to Mallory Park, with Jeremy Timms and John Davison both claiming crowns via race wins.
Jordan Harrison took another big step towards the Classic Formula Ford crown on Saturday with a resounding double victory against some strong opposition. With his Lola T540E working better and better, Harrison was able to stretch clear of battling veterans Rick Morris and Stuart Kestenbaum who, in the opening race, had teenager Samuel Harrison for company in a fabulous three-way battle. “They weren’t squabbling as much in the second race so I had to work a bit harder,” said Jordan Harrison.
Despite giving away more than 50 years to both of his rivals, Samuel Harrison mixed it well, but ultimately was edged back to fourth after a moment under braking for the Esses. He later missed the second Classic race – where Morris once again took the runner-up spot – after his oil tank split towards the end of the second Historic Formula Ford race.
Tom McArthur (Titan Mk4) was a double victor in the Historic division as he saw off the challenge of Horatio Fitz-Simon in two excellent races. “It’s only my second time racing here,” said McArthur of Mallory Park. Fitz-Simon ran McArthur very close in the opener, finishing just 0.266 seconds behind, but slipped back in the second race and had the charging Elden Mk8 of Samuel Harrison as a threat in the later stages.
Will Plant was on target to settle the ’70s Road Sports title until his Morgan +8 suffered a dramatic loss of oil pressure in the second race. He will now need to go to Silverstone next month to make certain of the title. In the opener, Plant had a fast-starting John Williams (Porsche 911SC) for company along with Dave Karaskas (TVR 300M) and his father Richard Plant (+8). Williams’s hard work went largely unrewarded when a gear selection issue slowed the Porsche at the Hairpin on the final lap and he finished fourth.
In the second race, the younger Plant switched the Morgan off when it lost power, and Williams was left clear to take his first win of the season, while poor Karaskas was in the barriers at the Esses at high speed after an inadvertent tap during lappery.
Will Plant (Morgan +8), ’70s Road Sports, Mallory Park 2021
Photo by: Mick Walker
Further back, one of the dices of the weekend raged over Class D as Gavin Johnson (Porsche 924) and Gary Thomas (Lotus 7) raced inches apart, with the Lotus doggedly refusing to pick up cleanly out of the Hairpin. Johnson finally took the class by three-quarters of a second.
John Davison had a day full of drama but salvaged a win in the opening Historic Road Sports counter in his Lotus Elan S1, which had seized its brakes in qualifying.
In the second race it threw a wheel off, but Davison had done enough to be champion, while Rupert Ashdown took over the family’s hard-working Elan to win the second race. The car had also been run by his father Barry in ’70s Road Sports races. “It’s got a bit hot and tired today,” said Ashdown Jr of the Lotus.
Murray Shepherd took his Van Diemen RF82 to a double win in the Historic FF2000 races but never had a moment to relax. In the opener, Benn Simms fought hard until his Reynard SF77 refused to pick up its final two litres of fuel, while on Sunday Ian Pearson had got it won with a brilliant performance until his Royale RP30 became stuck in third gear three laps from home. Simms had started at the back of the grid, but battled through to chase Shepherd home by just 0.213s.
Jeremy Timms claimed the Historic F3 title in style with a classy double win aboard his Chevron B15, despite starting the opener back in eighth place after heavy rain washed out qualifying. Other double wins on Sunday went to Mark Charteris (Mallock Mk20/21) in Classic Clubmans and Paul Sibley in the Midget and Sprite contest.
Mike Gardiner (Lotus Cortina) and Neil Wood (Ford Anglia 105E) shared the Touring Car spoils after a great contest in the first race. Wood’s target of reversing the result later was made easy when Gardiner’s Cortina consumed its alternator.
Reports by Stephen Lickorish, Marcus Simmons and Paul Lawrence. Photography by Jakob Ebrey Photography/Motorsport Images and Mick Walker. Want more reports from the world of national motorsport? Subscribe today and never miss your weekly fix of motorsport with Autosport magazine.
John Davison (Lotus Elan S1), Mallory Park 2021
Photo by: Mick Walker