Gordon Shedden has been confirmed as Dan Cammish's replacement in the Team Dynamics squad in this year’s British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), leaving the Honda team to find one further driver before the season starts.
Shedden, a 48-race winner in the tin top series and the champion in 2012, 2015 and 2016, previously left Dynamics at the end of the 2017 season to pursue his World Touring Car ambitions.
Racing with the Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team, Shedden hasn't enjoyed the same level of success as he experienced in his BTCC career, finishing 13th and 26th overall in 2018 and 2019 respectively.
The Shedden/Cammish switch is a welcome bit of good news for the BTCC, welcoming back one of its star drivers and someone who is likely to compete at the sharp end of the grid.
Cammish's plans remain unclear. In a statement released by the team, Cammish held out the possibility of returning in the future, saying: “Whilst it's really disappointing for me, I have to thank Dynamics for their faith in bringing me into the championship three years ago.
“If it weren’t for them, I probably wouldn’t have got my ‘big break’ in the BTCC and managed to do what I have done. We have parted on exceptional terms and I will be keeping in contact going forward. You never know what the future will bring.”
Team Dynamics manager James Rodgers confirmed that the team wanted to keep Cammish but that it wasn’t possible to reach an agreement. “We have tried very hard to keep Dan as part of the team for 2021, but it wasn't to be, and we've had to part ways,” he said.
In his three years with Team Dynamics, Cammish raced alongside BTCC stalwart Matt Neal and won eight races.
The 31-year-old Yorkshireman came closest to the title in 2019, only for brake failure at the final round at Brands Hatch to rob him of the championship within a lap-and-a-half of the flag, handing it to Colin Turkington. He finished third that year, backed up with another third place in 2020.
It all leaves one of the BTCC’s top squads with one seat to fill only two months away from the start of the season. Neal, the son of Team Dynamics founder Steve Neal and multiple race-winner over three decades of competing in the BTCC, was rumoured to be retiring at the end of 2020. Whether he will decide to carry on in 2021, to fill the second seat, remains to be seen.
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