Aiden Moffat claimed his first British Touring Car Championship victory in the opening race at Donington Park, leading home Matt Neal and pole-sitter Rob Austin.
Moffat, starting fourth, made a boisterous pass on Austin into the Old Hairpin before a superb switch-back through Redgate gave him the inside line down Hollywood to relieve early leader Ingram.
He then stretched an advantage as those behind debated position to claim a first career win.
Having been frustrated in the early stages behind the dueling Toyota Avensis’ of Austin and Ingram, Matt Neal followed through when the latter was pushed wide at Coppice to seize third before wearing down and passing Austin at half-distance.
Colin Turkington claimed fourth after scything his way through the field with no success ballast from tenth; team-mate Rob Collard similarly improved to sixth behind Ingram after qualifying in the midfield. Brands Hatch race-winner Andrew Jordan was less successful, finishing 15th via contact with Mike Epps’ Volkswagen CC at the last chicane.
In contrasting fashion, the two works MGs failed to finish after making contact heading down Hollywood. Daniel Lloyd went straight on at the Craner Curves and speared right into the barrier, whilst Aron Taylor-Smith recovered to the pit lane with front-left damage but ultimately bowed out.
Championship leader Gordon Shedden will share his team-mates frustration after being boxed in behind Ingram, backing him into the clutches of Adam Morgan’s Mercedes A-Class before being passed to the inside down the straight/finish straight.
Jack Goff will feel aggrieved as his front-row start went to waste as contact with Shedden at McLeans on the opening lap shovelled him down the order to 12th at the flag. Team-mate Jeff Smith scored some consolation for Eurotech Racing by maintaining his ninth placed starting slot.
It proved to be a high race of attrition. Jason Plato exited proceedings early, shortly followed by team-mate James Cole, Jake Hill and Martin Depper. The aforementioned Epps retired after clouting the barrier following his contact with Jordan.
The net result of Donington Park’s opening race sees Tom Ingram close the gap to Gordon Shedden at the summit to a mere three points, heading into the second race at 14:37 this afternoon.
Race result
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME/GAP | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 16 | Aiden MOFFAT |  |
Laser Tools Racing | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 16 | 18:59.693 | 1:10.286 | 4 | |
| 2 | 25 | M | Matt NEAL | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 16 | 1.504 | 1:10.219 | 5 |
| 3 | 11 | Rob AUSTIN | |
Handy Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 16 | 2.164 | 1:10.361 | 1 | |
| 4 | 4 | M | Colin TURKINGTON | |
Team BMW | BMW 125i M Sport | 16 | 2.433 | 1:10.193 | 10 |
| 5 | 80 | Tom INGRAM | |
Speedworks Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 16 | 14.539 | 1:11.032 | 3 | |
| 6 | 5 | M | Rob COLLARD | |
Team BMW | BMW 125i M Sport | 16 | 14.984 | 1:10.580 | 13 |
| 7 | 33 | Adam MORGAN | |
Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 16 | 15.168 | 1:10.650 | 8 | |
| 8 | 52 | M | Gordon SHEDDEN | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 16 | 15.358 | 1:10.945 | 6 |
| 9 | 55 | Jeff SMITH | |
Eurotech Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 16 | 17.996 | 1:10.626 | 9 | |
| 10 | 66 | Josh COOK | |
Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport | Ford Focus | 16 | 18.095 | 1:10.625 | 17 | |
| 11 | 3 | Mat JACKSON | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo | Ford Focus | 16 | 18.330 | 1:10.864 | 18 | |
| 12 | 31 | Jack GOFF | |
Eurotech Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 16 | 18.878 | 1:10.560 | 2 | |
| 13 | 116 | M | Ashley SUTTON | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 16 | 19.858 | 1:10.813 | 31 |
| 14 | 18 | M | Senna PROCTOR | |
Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 16 | 20.556 | 1:10.656 | 19 |
| 15 | 77 | M | Andrew JORDAN | |
BMW Pirtek Racing | BMW 125i M Sport | 16 | 21.074 | 1:11.108 | 14 |
| 16 | 10 | Ant WHORTON-EALES | |
AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts | Audi S3 | 16 | 21.327 | 1:10.799 | 29 | |
| 17 | 48 | Ollie JACKSON | |
AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts | Audi S3 | 16 | 21.714 | 1:10.974 | 25 | |
| 18 | 303 | M | Matt SIMPSON | |
Simpson Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 16 | 22.005 | 1:11.094 | 21 |
| 19 | 300 | Luke DAVENPORT | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo | Ford Focus | 16 | 23.791 | 1:10.931 | 27 | |
| 20 | 17 | Dave NEWSHAM | |
BTC Norlin Racing | Chevrolet Cruze | 16 | 24.829 | 1:11.352 | 22 | |
| 21 | 7 | Stephen JELLEY | |
Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport | Ford Focus | 16 | 25.278 | 1:11.287 | 30 | |
| 22 | 28 | M | Josh PRICE | |
BMR Racing Academy | Subaru Levorg GT | 16 | 39.276 | 1:11.790 | 28 |
| 23 | 61 | Will BURNS | |
Autoaid / RCIB Insurance Racing | Volkswagen CC | 16 | 41.935 | 1:11.235 | 24 | |
| 24 | 40 | M | Árón TAYLOR-SMITH |  |
MG Racing RCIB Insurance | MG6GT | 15 | 1 Lap | 1:11.094 | 11 |
| 25 | 23 | M | Daniel LLOYD | |
MG Racing RCIB Insurance | MG6GT | 12 | 4 Laps | 1:10.814 | 16 |
| 26 | 12 | Mike EPPS | |
Autoaid / RCIB Insurance Racing | Volkswagen CC | 9 | 7 Laps | 1:10.602 | 7 | |
| R | 22 | Chris SMILEY | |
BTC Norlin Racing | Chevrolet Cruze | 4 | 12 Laps | 1:11.301 | 20 | |
| R | 2 | M | Tom CHILTON | |
Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 4 | 12 Laps | 1:10.983 | 12 |
| R | 99 | M | Jason PLATO | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 3 | 13 Laps | 1:18.096 | 15 |
| R | 20 | M | James COLE | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 0 | DNF | N/A | 23 |
| R | 30 | Martin DEPPER | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo | Ford Focus | 0 | DNF | N/A | 26 | |
| R | 24 | Jake HILL | |
TAG Racing | Volkswagen CC | 0 | DNF | N/A | 32 |