Surprise call for Cammish

Porsche king gets Honda drive, but established star Jackson endures shock split from Motorbase

Double Porsche Carrera Cup GB champion Dan Cammish has joined the factory Team Dynamics British Touring Car Championship Honda squad for the 2018 season. The 28-year-old will join Matt Neal in one of the team’s new Honda Civic Type Rs, which are currently under development at the firm’s workshops. He will take the place of Gordon Shedden, who has joined WRT for an attack on the World Touring Car Cup (see page 8). While Cammish will join Dynamics, Motorbase Performance issued a statement last week saying that it had parted ways with Mat Jackson, who had been scheduled to stay on for a ninth season with the team to drive one of its Ford Focus machines. Autosport understands that there had been contact between Jackson (battling Shedden, below) and Dynamics, which led to the decision for the parties to split.

Leeds driver Cammish will begin his test programme with Team Dynamics in Spain within the next two weeks.

Cammish, who combined the Porsche Supercup with his campaign in the UK last year, said: “I’m obviously over the moon to be signing for Honda – they are a team with a highly successful background and a team that has proven they can win championships. I have my hopes set high for 2018 and lifting the overall drivers crown would be a dream come true, but first of all I appreciate that, as a works-team driver, points for the manufacturer and teams championships are the main priority.”

Team boss and team-mate Neal said: “Dan will be able handle himself in this highly competitive championship. He conducts himself with professionalism and is good on camera. He really ticks all the boxes as a replacement for ‘Flash’ [Shedden] and I wish him all the best for the coming season – it’s great to have him on board.”

Motorbase Performance has yet to announce a replacement for Jackson. It will field three Ford Focus STS in the championship this year.

In a team statement, team boss David Bartrum said: “Mat Jackson has been a fantastic driver for Motorbase Performance and I’ve enjoyed all of the years that we have worked together. We’ve had some great times, but like all things in life, things move on.”

Jackson said that he was unlikely to be on the BTCC grid this term. “I got the news quite late in the day, and therefore I’m probably going to be a spectator this season,” said the 36-year-old, a 31-time BTCC race winner.

Meanwhile, Laser Tools Racing confirmed that it is remaining in the BTCC with 21-year-old Scot Aiden Moffat at the wheel of its Mercedes A-class. Moffat was a two-time race winner in 2018.

Team Parker Racing’s Stephen Jelley will also return to the grid this season. The team has swapped its Ford Focus for an EX-WSR BMW

125i M Sport for the fresh campaign.