The Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship came to Croft Circuit on Sunday. Matt Westcott had an ‘access all areas’ pass with the Honda Halfords Yuasa Racing team

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Matt Neal, left, and Dan Cammish speak to invited guests in the Honda tent. Picture: Matt Westcott

TEMPERATURES may have been soaring but the Honda team kept their cool during an intense day of racing at Croft.

The visit to the track, near Darlington, this past weekend marked 50 years since the UK’s premier motorsport series came to North Yorkshire.

It also marked the halfway point in the 2018 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship.

And coming into the three-race meeting drivers Matt Neal and Dan Cammish were sitting sixth and tenth respectively in a championship headed by the man known as the ‘King of Croft’ Colin Turkington.

Evergreen racer Neal is one of the most recognisable faces in the sport, second only to long-time rival Jason Plato.

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Dan Cammish signs autographs for fans during the pit walk at Croft Circuit. Picture: Michael Atkinson

Cammish, however, is experiencing his first season with the team having previously conquered the Porsche Carrera Cup series twice.

Whereas Neal has been round the track almost as many times as he has had hot dinners, Cammish was experiencing not only his first taste of Croft in a touring car, but his first time in a front-wheel driven racer.

The Yorkshireman admitted on arriving on Friday that he had two sightings on Saturday to become an expert.

Qualification didn’t quite go to plan, Neal putting his Type R in 15th place on the grid and Cammish, back in 20th.

It meant the pair were going to have to battle hard as the sun beat down on Sunday afternoon.

Almost as soon as the first race – round 13 of the season – got off the line it was brought back under caution, Stephen Jelley and Rob Austin coming together.

Cammish has had two podiums in his maiden season, but he wasn’t having it his own way on Sunday.

A coming together part-way through the race hindered his progress and so it was down to Neal to lead the charge.

After 15 laps he battled his way through to a ninth place finish with Cammish 18th, Ashley Sutton and Plato leading the way with a one-two for Adrian Flux Subaru Racing.

Cammish cut a frustrated figure.

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Dan Cammish in a post-race debrief. Picture: Matt Westcott

James Rodgers, team manager at Team Dynamics Motorsport, explained.

“Dan was compromised by his incident with (Tom) Chilton going into the hairpin early in the race and his cold air inlet has been damaged and it’s affected his race.

“Matt has had a good run. He’s just been saying on the radio the car is good. If we can just keep grinding away maybe we can get something out of race two and three.”

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James Rodgers, team manager at Team Dynamics Motorsport. Picture: Matt Westcott

Cammish’s car needed some TLC, but thankfully the damage was more cosmetic than anything.

Neal, meanwhile, was looking ahead.

“We will get a bit of weight out for the next one, which is promising,” he said. “We start a bit further up the order on the fifth row so we will try and work our way forwards.”

Race two saw both drivers in more aggressive mood, set-ups more in tune with the circuit, they crossed the line in seventh and 11 places, respectively.

The pit crew set about getting the cars ready for the final race of the day.

Among them were Neal’s twin sons, Henry and William.

So what’s it like working with your dad in such a high pressure environment?

“It’s the pinnacle of British motorsport, so it’s good craic,” William said. “It’s good – well, sometimes good. We like to keep it in the family, it’s what we do.”

There's one person who stands out among the Honda crew.

Bethan is the only woman among the many men in the garage.

"I'm just one of the lads," she said. "I'm training to be a fabricator so I help build the shells.

"I can do something they (the men) can't which is an advantage. As long as you can take a bit of banter, it's all good."

Ben Durrell knows the Honda team from back to front.

So do the crew feel the same emotions as the drivers, win or lose?

"Without a doubt," he said. "In any motorsport, you will always here the drivers say 'this is for the boys back at base, this is for the engineers'. That's not PR, that's not to make them look nice. The engineers and the people that build these cars are the reason they can win races.

"I have some incredible photos of the guys on the pit wall when the drivers come past. They are all mates. We are working for the drivers, we are supplying the car for them to go racing in, but we win as a team and we lose as a team. We always have and always will."

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Matt Neal has a drink. Picture: Matt Westcott

For the final race, Neal was drawn third on the grid, while Cammish started 11th.

It’s a terrific, contest, probably the best of the day with both drivers battling hard.

On lap nine, Sutton passes Neal at the hairpin, but Neal’s not letting it go, he comes back at the Subaru driver at Clerveaux, forcing his rival to take to the gravel.

There’s a collective shout of ‘Yes!’ from the garage.

Durrell's comments from earlier come to mind.

They might not show it, but they are living every gear change, analysing every overtaking manoevure, willing their drivers on.

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Dan Cammish in action in the BTCC at Croft Circuit. Picture: Michael Atkinson

Cammish remains just outside the top ten, while his team-mate spends the next six laps fending off the attentions of the pursuing pack. Fourth and 11th over the line is a satisfying outcome for both drivers.

"It's been a tough one," Cammish said afterwards. "We threw a lot of kit at it for race one, Matt went in one direction and I went in the other. It was a disaster for me.

"But we threw Matt's set-up on for race two, improved greatly, 19th to 11th was much more like it.

"The last race on the hard tyre, I held my own, struggled in the middle against the guys on the medium but towards the end it came good – P11 is about what we've got.

"We got to go away from, do some testing and come back strong for the second half. I've learned a lot, I am a rookie, so let's see where we go from here."