DeLeon claims maiden victory in race two as Dan Cammish retires

WSR’s Daryl DeLeon claimed his maiden British Touring Car Championship victory in the second race at Brands Hatch in a safety car-interrupted race.

With the rules dictating the top three finishers in race one have to start on the hardest available tyre compound for race two, it meant that Jake Hill, Charles Rainford and Tom Ingram would be on the less favourable rubber for the race.

NAPA Racing UK’s Dan Cammish sought to capitalise on that, and he quickly moved into fourth past Team Vertu’s Adam Morgan at the start, and by the end of the lap he was also in front of Ingram for third.

Hill and Rainford led in formation for the opening three laps, but Rainford was clearly struggling with his left-rear tyre and Cammish was able to take second through Clark Curve on lap four.

On the next lap, Rainford lost out to WSR stable-mate DeLeon and Morgan, whilst Ingram, who had dropped one place on the first lap, lost three more places on the next lap in mid-pack bunching.

The safety car had to be called on lap eight due to Un-Limited Motorsport team-mates Max Hall and Dexter Patterson coming together at Paddock Hill bend, both drivers ending their race in the gravel amidst some acrimonious tempers between the duo.

It took seven laps behind the safety car to clear the first corner, but just as the race was set to resume Cammish slowed in second after accidentally switching the ignition off whilst trying to change his engine map settings, and in the ensuing confusion he was collected by Power Maxed Racing’s Mikey Doble and WSR’s Aiden Moffat, breaking his left-rear suspension.

That caused the safety car to immediately come back out for five laps, before racing resumed on lap 20 for an eight-lap sprint to the finish.

Hill left it until the last possible moment to accelerate, and DeLeon seized upon his opportunity immediately, sliding through at Paddock Hill bend to take the lead, with Rainford following into second further around the lap.

Hill held station in third for two laps, before Morgan took third on lap 22, which allowed DeLeon to open up a three second advantage by lap 23.

Morgan dived inside Rainford for second four laps from the finish, but had insufficient time to close down DeLeon’s lead.

DeLeon thus won and became the third youngest winner in BTCC history at the age of 19, with Morgan 3.6 seconds back, whilst the podium was completed by NAPA’s Ash Sutton, who had made steady progress in the race, claiming the podium place exiting Druids three laps from the end.

Restart Racing’s Chris Smiley was fourth having largely followed Sutton through the field during the race, ahead of Moffat in fifth, the BMW driver having been allowed back into tenth behind the safety car after the Cammish incident, before the Scot made five further places in the closing laps.

One Motorsport’s Josh Cook equalled his best result of the season in sixth, ahead of Rainford in seventh, who had slipped back in the closing laps.

Hill was eighth, with the top ten completed by NAPA’s Daniel Rowbottom and Toyota’s Ronan Pearson.

The reverse grid draw saw the number nine ball drawn, giving Rowbottom pole for race three with Hill alongside.

Ingram took the chequered flag in 11^th after struggling on the hard tyre, whilst Doble finished two laps down due to contact from Moffat in the closing laps and a subsequent visit to the pitlane.

Restart’s Daniel Lloyd also finished off the lead lap in 21^st, having been knocked onto the grass at Surtees on lap six and visiting the pitlane.

Race three is scheduled to get underway at 17:10 BST.

Race result

POS	NO	CL	NAT	DRIVER	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	BEST	GD
1	2	M		Daryl DELEON	WSR	BMW 330i M Sport	27	26:43.327	47.594	7
2	33	M		Adam MORGAN	Team Vertu	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	27	3.641	47.543	4
3	100	M		Ashley SUTTON	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	27	5.466	47.659	10
4	22	I		Chris SMILEY	Restart Racing	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	27	5.910	47.647	12
5	16	M		Aiden MOFFAT	LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR	BMW 330i M Sport	27	6.798	47.802	20
6	66	I		Josh COOK	One Motorsport	Honda Civic Type-R	27	8.350	47.806	15
7	99	M		Charles RAINFORD	LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR	BMW 330i M Sport	27	9.501	47.908	2
8	1	M		Jake HILL	Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport	BMW 330i M Sport	27	10.590	47.940	1
9	32	M		Daniel ROWBOTTOM	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	27	10.829	48.189	18
10	14	M		Ronan PEARSON	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	27	11.136	48.095	11
11	80	M		Tom INGRAM	Team Vertu	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	27	11.427	48.278	3
12	3	M		Tom CHILTON	Team Vertu	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	27	11.760	47.749	22
13	12	I		Stephen JELLEY	One Motorsport	Honda Civic Type-R	27	12.385	48.304	14
14	777	M		Michael CREES	Team Vertu	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	27	12.626	48.018	13
15	40	M		Árón TAYLOR-SMITH	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	27	12.973	48.040	16
16	52	M		Gordon SHEDDEN	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	27	13.238	47.691	21
17	77	M		Sam OSBORNE	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	27	16.159	48.337	8
18	132	M		James DORLIN	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	27	17.111	48.554	17
19	28	I		Nicolas HAMILTON	Powder Monkey Brewing Co with Esidock	CUPRA Leon	27	17.331	48.574	25
20	50	I		Nick HALSTEAD	Motor Parts Direct with Power Maxed Racing	Vauxhall Astra	27	19.096	49.038	24
21	123	I		Daniel LLOYD	Restart Racing	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	26	+ 1 LAP	47.613	9
22	88	I		Mikey DOBLE	Motor Parts Direct with Power Maxed Racing	Vauxhall Astra	25	+ 2 LAPS	47.897	6
R	27	M		Dan CAMMISH	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	12	DNF	47.760	5
R	93	I		Max HALL	ROKiT Racing with Un-Limited Motorsport	CUPRA Leon	6	DNF	48.203	23
R	17	I		Dexter PATTERSON	ROKiT Racing with Un-Limited Motorsport	CUPRA Leon	6	DNF	48.149	19