It was back in October 2019, as the clock ticked down to the BTCC title decider at Brands Hatch, that the announcement was made that Dan Cammish had agreed terms on a new two year deal with Team Dynamics.

The Yorkshireman had enjoyed a stellar second season in the series to launch a championship challenge as he took the fight to the West Surrey Racing-run BMWs and just a few weeks later, he would go agonisingly close to lifting the title in one of the most dramatic finales the series has ever seen.

Overcoming the disappointment of losing out with just a handful of miles of the 2019 season left to run, Cammish bounced back well last year to pick up a personal best points haul as he secured a top three championship finish, and the honour of being the best placed driver using a front-wheel drive car, for the second season in a row.

Having firmly established himself as a championship contender, Cammish was widely expected to be a figure in the title fight again in 2021 and was the first name to appear on many entry lists, thanks in no small part to that deal announced some 15 months before.

It therefore came as a surprise to many when the announcement was made that rather than fight for the title, Cammish wouldn’t even be on the grid after his deal with Dynamics was brought to an early end.

The reasons why would become clear in the weeks that followed as news emerged of the departure of both Honda and long-time team sponsor Yuasa, with Cammish instead making a return to the Porsche Carrera Cup, where he will chase a record-breaking third title during the year ahead.

It’s not however what the 31-year-old expected to be doing as he prepared for the new season to come around…

“I knew quite early on that Honda wouldn’t be continuing, but I was working under the impression that I would still be part of the team,” he reflected in conversation with Inside BTCC. “To be honest, I did see that there could potentially be some issues coming along quite early, and I brought that up in conversation with Matt [Neal] and I was told not to worry.

“I knew that the team had invested a lot in me and had helped to turn me into a competitive touring car driver, and I think I was at the right age to be seen as someone who could almost be the future of Team Dynamics. However, things can change quickly in motorsport and when that happened, the chance for me to stay in the same capacity just wasn’t there any longer.”

You can read the full feature with Dan in the March edition of the eMagazine – which is on sale here for £2.49.