BTCC 2025: Team Vertu Rule Donington as Cammish Gets a Milestone Win

We are coming into the closing stages of the season and the championship is more exciting than ever. Donington Park GP delivered a classic British Touring Car Championship weekend with a title fight out on track, track limit controversy and the ever changing British weather.

From Tom Chilton’s long-awaited pole position and race one victory to Dan Cammish’s landmark 200th start win and a breathtaking showdown between Ash Sutton and Tom Ingram in race three, keep reading to find out what happened at Donington Park GP.

Qualifying

Qualifying can be unpredictable in the dry, but there was a dark cloud looming and rain in the air as the session began. Knockhill’s polesitter Charles Rainford had issues just before the rain fell in Q1 part two so he couldn't make it into the fastest 12.

The air was wet but the track was dry enough for slick tyres, apart from Sutton who initially came out on wet tyres. After the miscommunication, he changed to slicks but track limits and the weather were not on his side. Good lap times were deleted before the rain got heavier and the pace slowed. Sutton qualified tenth while Jake Hill also had issues with laps deleted due to track limits and ended up 12th. An interesting battle through the pack was incoming from the champions.

The main story from qualifying was the first pole position for Chilton for the first time since 2011! He battled a wet session to beat his teammate by 0.353 seconds. Mikey Doble also looked fast in the wet, initially taking third, but was later disqualified for ride height so Chris Smiley lined up third for race one.

Race 1: Lights to flag for Chilton

Team Vertu showed their pace with a dominant performance out in front. Despite a clutch issue, at lights out Chilton led Ingram into Redgate corner (turn one). Smiley managed to stick with them while Deleon held off a Napa barrage until the penultimate corner where the BMW went from fourth to seventh. The opening stages of the race didn’t get much better for Deleon who dropped to 11th by the end of lap three. 

Napa then put on a show as the Valvoline-liveried cars of Cammish and Sutton sandwiched Dan Rowbottom in a battle for third in the championship. Rowbottom fended off Sutton and made it past Cammish to hunt down Smiley. Two-corner battle began at the Melbourne Loop with Rowbottom on the inside line taking the place but Smiley performed a switch back and was alongside for the final corner. However, Rowbottom took the place from Smiley down the main straight while Sutton dived down the inside of Cammish at turn one and up into fifth.

Just over half way through the race Smiley began to tumble down the order. Sutton was first with Cammish making a great move almost on the grass only a few corners later. Hill had closed the gap to the three in front as he was making his way through the pack from his starting position of 11th. Two laps after the Napa drivers, Hill made a move on the outside of the Melbourne Loop. The BMW completed the move on the inside of the final corner and Adam Morgan took advantage of the open door, getting past Smiley who was now in eighth. However, Smiley had a commanding lead in the Independent championship so despite losing more positions on track, he was able to come home with the win for the Independent championship.

Things settled down at the front in the last few laps and it was never in doubt that Chilton would take the win with Ingram in second place. The teammates had a gap which couldn’t be closed despite a late charge from Rowbottom but Chilton took his second win of the season. 

Race 2: Cammish marks his 200th race with a win

Talk was all about the weather but the rain held off for the start of the race and the top three drivers were on the hard tyres with everyone else opting for the mediums. 

Chilton and Ingram got away well while Cammish had already made up a place on Rowbottom at the start. Sutton was right behind and Morgan followed on hoping to gain on those with harder tyres. 

Up at McLeans on the opening lap we had our first cars in the gravel which brought out the safety car. Sam Osborne, Senna Proctor and Aiden Moffat were caught up in a tight battle which led to the three of them having an incident. Mooffat and Osborne were able to get away again however Proctor had to be recovered. A few drops of rain began to fall as the safety car came in but nothing which would upset the cars too much. 

Ingram got a better restart than Chilton and dived down the inside of his teammate into turn one. Sutton saw the gap open in front and tried to follow Ingram through but was nudged by Rowbottom who braked too late. Sutton spun, collecting Chilton and dropping them both down the order. Heading down into the Craner Curves Sutton moved alongside Árón Taylor-Smith but carried too much speed into Old Harpin and both cars ran across the gravel. They both continued but the restart had not been good for Sutton.

Cammish had the opposite luck. With his teammate dropping out it was a straight battle between the Napa car and Ingram for the lead. Cammish was on safer tyres than Ingram which would ultimately make the difference. Ingram defended hard but the pace of Cammish meant there was nothing Ingram could do and Cammish led the race.

Mid-way through, the rain had gone and Morgan utilised his pace to take second from Ingram while Rowbottom overtook Chilton after their incident at the restart. Hill began to make a charge as he took positions from Dan Lloyd, Gordon Shedden and Smiley within five laps. 

Hill’s teammate Rainford was battling his way into the top ten against Taylor-Smith and the BMW was alongside into the Melbourne Loop, he had momentum but was on the outside but had the inside line for the final corner. Still wheel-to-wheel, the pair came out of the final corner but Rainford got on the throttle too hard, clipped the back of the Toyota and the car spun on the main straight. He kept it out of the barrier but tumbled back to 18th.

Just as the race looked done and dusted the heavens opened. With two laps to go there were seven cars off at McLeans which is where the leaders were when the biblical rainfall hit. It caught everyone out and the safety car was called to neutralise the race. This brought them over the line just as the rainstorm stopped. Cammish finished his 200th BTCC race with his 15th win, Morgan finished in second with Shedden taking advantage of the chaos and finished on the podium. It may have been chaos at the end but Cammish was able to hang on to add to his win tally.

Race 3: Ingram beats Sutton to the line

Sutton took reverse grid pole after Smiley was disqualified from race two due to ride height issues. This was his opportunity to take back some of the points lost in race two after the restart incident.

Lights out and Sutton got a good start while the two Toyota’s behind were side-by-side into turn one, Josh Cook on the faster tyre won that fight. Further back Deleon was overtaken by Ingram the Napa’s of Rowbottom and Osborne were scrapping for 11th. Everyone was swapping positions in the middle of the pack while Ingram made it up to third before the end of lap one. Ingram made it into second with a tight move on Cook into turn one of the next lap.

It wasn’t long before Ingram claimed the new lap record and had caught up with his championship rival in the lead. Sutton made his car the widest Ford at Donington Park and Ingram was weaving in every direction to find a gap through. An intense two-lap battle hand fans watched through their fingers before Ingram made a move into the Melbourne Loop but it didn’t stick and they were side-by-side all the way to turn one. Eventually Ingram was able to dive down the inside at turn one but not without some contact with Sutton. Incredible driving from both of them.

Meanwhile Chilton had made some good progress from 15th on the grid. Half-way through the race he was up into seventh and not stopping there as he finished in sixth. Rowbottom was also making up places as he got past both Toyota’s to take the final podium position and to try and help out Sutton. 

Nick Halstead looked to have a mechanical issue which put him in the barrier on the exit of turn two. There was liquid on the track from the stricken Cupra and the safety car was deployed. Halstead didn’t hit the barrier too hard and was ok.

Ingram launched for the restart but Sutton stayed with him. Rowbottom fended off Taylor-Smith while it was all changed further back. Chilton looked to get past the Toyota, Deleon went wide letting Shedden and Cook past. 

Hill had a great restart following Chilton and dived down the inside on the next lap through Coppice. On the final lap, the BMW was quicker than the Toyota of Taylor-Smith but he couldn’t find a way past. It was a great battle right to the line and the champion had to settle for fifth.

Sutton wasn’t ready to let Ingram win the race without a last-stitched attempt to take the win. The Ford weaved around looking for a way through but couldn’t make anything stick and Ingram took the win. Rowbottom rounded out the podium with his second third-place finish of the day.

Silverstone is calling

As the dust settles on a weekend that had everything a fan could want, all eyes now turn to Silverstone, a circuit that always delivers high-speed slipstreaming battles and no shortage of controversy. With the championship finely poised, the next meeting promises to be another must-watch showdown in this unforgettable BTCC season.

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