The MN editor tells us of one 2021 on-track battle he is already relishing
Dan Cammish has been the man writing the headlines in recent weeks, and he has prompted even more by confirming that he will return to the Porsche Carrera Cup GB grid this term by rejoining the Redline Racing team, something he hinted at in his exclusive column in Motorsport News last month (March 11).
It wasn’t seismic in terms of where Cammish was going to end up: why wouldn’t he want to return to a category where he was building a strong career before the British Touring Car Championship opportunity came knocking? Cammish was a podium finisher at Monaco, don’t forget, in a season with the Lechner team in the Porsche Supercup too in 2017. The Leeds racer’s stock was certainly high in the German machines, and other GT opportunities were beginning to come his way too in the Blancpain series.
So, now his successful diversion in touring cars has come to an unfortunate end, he is keen to get back onto the sportscar escalator that was lifting him through the ranks before.
Cammish’s record in the Porsche Carrera Cup is mouth-watering. He took two titles in 2015 and 2016 and only lost out in 2017 due to missing the races at Snetterton due to a date clash with the Supercup rounds at the Hungaroring in late July. Ultimately, he was third in the UK and fourth in the Supercup.
What is startling is the 31-year-old’s strike rate in the Carrera Cup GB. He has a 69% win ratio of all the GB events he has contested since the start of 2015 through to the end of the 2017 campaign. He has a 89% conversion rate when it comes to podiums. Those are staggering figures in such a high-level competitive championship.
But he is not alone in turning heads in the rear-wheel-drive German sportscars. There is someone with an even better strike rate: a 75% win rate, although with ‘only’ a 81% podium record – yes, the word only is a leg-pull, as it is something any other driver would love. That driver is reigning champion Harry King, another who has committed to returning to the one-make BTCC support series for 2021. The 20-year-old will line up on the grid for a second season at that level with Team Parker Racing.
This has thrown up a lip-smacking prospect for the series in 2021. Cammish can rightly be regarded as the acknowledged master of the 485bhp rear-wheel-drive machines, while King was simply sublime last year in his maiden season in the category.
If there is any flaw with King, it is his relentless pace, even when he doesn’t have to show it. This was evident at Thruxton last year. In the opening race, he charged to a 12-second buffer over the rest before a tyre deflated at the notoriously demanding Hampshire speedbowl. In race two he charged from the seventh on the grid to the front, but only one lap after hitting top spot on lap 10, but only four tours later, the Michelin burst again.
While it was stunning to watch his pace on the UK’s fastest track, maybe his lack of experience was laid bare there.
Those are the lessons he will learn going into the 2021 season, but they are the lessons that have already been absorbed into Cammish’s armoury. In effect, the battle between the two will be The Gaffer versus
The Apprentice, and there are likely to be some highly intense on-track scraps.
There are personalities to take into account too. Cammish is confident in his ability, shows natural speed and almost believes that he should be at the front. King, on the other hand, is still very much on his career journey and is yet to be as established as his Redline rival. King will still feel like he has something to prove, while Cammish will be out to show what he has already proven is valid.
One of the joys of motorsport is a no-holdsbarred combat between two exceptional talents. It tells you as much about the characters of the main players involved as it does about their level of ability.
And, with these two in the Porsche
Carrera Cup GB, onlookers are set for a firecracker of a season. It will be something to behold, and whichever of these two prevails will have really proved a point.
It will be a battle not to be missed.
“The Porsche Carrera Cup GB in 2021 will be The Gaffer v The Apprentice”