Wrotham-based Motorbase Performance’s NAPA Racing squad took two wins out of three races at Croft but it was Dan Cammish - not championship leader Ash Sutton - who got the ball rolling in the latest round of the British Touring Car Championship.

The weekend started ominously for NAPA’s rivals, including Platt’s Heath’s Jake Hill, with a 1,2,3 in qualifying. Cammish took the all-important pole position ahead of Daniel Rowbottom with Sutton third. There they stayed until the final lap, when Rowbottom moved over for the championship leader.

Hill, driving for Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport, was fifth and Broadstairs’ returnee Michael Crees was 21st for Team HARD.

In race two Sutton’s Ford Focus blasted off the line from second on the grid and cruised around the outside of Cammish to move into the lead through turn one. He pulled nearly eight seconds clear of the chasing pack with Cammish second and Rowbottom again third. Title hopeful Hill was only 11th after a late spin while fifth with Crees finishing 19th.

Crees was arguably the happiest Kent driver after race three, where he was 11th - an improvement of eight places to finish just half a second behind 10th-placed George Gamble. Hill was seventh with NAPA’s Cammish and Rowbottom fourth and fifth.

Sutton, meanwhile, was involved in a coming-together with Team BMW’s Stephen Jelly and was forced to retire. BMW’s Colin Turkington won the race.

“What a result for NAPA,” Cammish said. “It was fantastic to get a 1-2-3 for the first time in qualifying. It’s great being at the front but you can also get it very wrong if you are not careful.

“From our side, I think we have had more team debriefs this weekend than we have had in a while and are doing our absolute best for NAPA Racing UK as a whole.

“We played a strategic game in the first one with Ash using the medium [tyre] and me and Dan racing it out on the softs. We knew that would reverse in race 2 with Ash getting the upper hand - it worked out perfectly. I’m glad we were stood up there again with a 1-2-3.

“For myself to win at my home circuit, my first-ever win at Croft in a touring car, I am very pleased with that.”

Motorbase’s other driver, Sam Osborne, was ninth, 15th and 17th.

Sutton leads the championship on 258 points with Hill fourth, Cammish fifth and Rowbottom seventh. Osborne is 17th.

A disappointed Hill held his hands up for losing fifth place in race two and said: “It hasn’t been the day I’d hoped for. Croft isn’t a rear-wheel-drive track anymore and the situation we have with all the cars now is that we have to make our time in the corners, rather than on the straights.

“When that’s the case you push everything right to the limit just to stay somewhere near the front and you’re always at a greater risk of a mistake. That’s what happened today and I just ruined it for myself.

“Knockhill’s next and I hope we can use the memories of what we did last year to get ourselves back on track.”

Crees, back in the series with Team HARD after spending the first half of the season in the British GT Championship, tweeted: “Well [a] great end to a very fun weekend!!. Great to be back and glad I got some points in the end!!

“Thank you everyone @teamhard_racing for the amazing effort and @matttnealracing for being patient. [I] can’t wait to do it all again in @knockhillracingcircuit!!”

The BTCC resumes at Knockhill on August 12-13.