The Sandbag Times Issue No: 44

when he also claimed pole position. After having his first
quick lap taken off him for track limits, Dan pulled another
rocket lap out the bag to claim P4 – for the third qualifying
session in a row.
Round Three: Thruxton
A Dream Weekend As Matt Bags Pole, Lap
Record, Race Win & Third Place Podium
Sunday 20th May 2018 marked the turning point in the fortunes
of Matt Neal, Dan Cammish and Team Dynamics. The
SBT team descended to the Salisbury Plain Raceway in force
to report and support our patronage. Already excited for the
races due to witnessing Matt blow the track record out of the
water as well as taking a brilliant Pole Position for the first
race. We had beautifully warm conditions, an empty camera,
two reporters and our social media guru all set to enjoy the
day. So, without further ado, lets hand over to Ben Durrell,
Team Dynamics to tell us how it all panned out.
Ben Durrell, Team Dynamics
What a great weekend for the team. A trio of podiums and the
maiden win for the new FK8 Type R. We knew on paper that
the car was very-well suited to Thruxton, but Matt shocked
everyone at the first opportunity in qualifying.
He set a time of 1:15.612s, the first ever BTCC driver to break
the 1:16 barrier – breaking his own record that he set last year
Matt took a dominant lights to flag victory in race 1 after a
blistering start saw him beat the rear wheel drive BMW of
Colin Turkington into the braking zone at the first corner and
keep him at bay for the remaining 15 laps. Dan climbed a
place to P3 early on and held on until the flag, his second
podium in a mightily impressive debut season in the championship.
Race 2 saw Matt start up front again, this time with a passenger
onboard in the form of 75KG of success ballast. A sluggish
start meant that after the first few laps he had dropped to
P3, although he did fantastically well to hold off a cohort of
much lighter cars behind him and finish with a podium. Dan
had a slight moment coming through Church early on, he
subsequently had to pit and crossed the line a lowly 26th.
A fruitful reverse grid draw placed Matt on the 3rd row in P5
for Race 3, he converted this to yet another strong points finish,
hauling the car home in P8 – making him the highest
point-scoring driver of the weekend. Nice and light, Dan
carved his way through the pack to make up 13 places and
cross the line in P13 on the final lap.
We’ve launched ourselves up to joint-second in the
Manufacturers’ Championship, straight second place in the
Teams’ Championship – while Matt & Dan are firmly in the title
hunt at this early stage in 6th & 7th in the championship.
How things can change! We’re next racing at Oulton park in
just under 3 weeks’ time, a track that Matt had pole position at
last year – can he do it again?
Photo: Jakob Ebrey
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