Team BMR’s Jason Plato won the opening British Touring Car Championship race of the day at Brands Hatch, ahead of Gordon Shedden and polesitter Colin Turkington.
Plato assumed the lead from his team-mate Turkington at the end of the first lap having gone up the inside on the Starkeys straight, and looked comfortable until the finish as he claimed his first victory of the season.
Turkington led off the line as the front three got an even start, although Plato gave the Northern Irishman a small nudge as they rounded Redgate for the first time, with the latter getting the better of Shedden at the Old Hairpin.
But Turkington relinquished the lead after running slightly wide onto the back straight, with Plato galloping off into the distance. Shedden capitalised on the opportunity at the old hairpin on the second lap, making a daring dive stick to move into second.
With Plato up the road, Turkington made an attempt to return the BMR team a 1-2 finish with a pass on the Honda at Redgate, but Shedden used the cutback well to immediately regain the position.
Despite a hairy moment towards the end of the race, the Scot was able to hold Turkington behind him thereafter as they followed Plato across the line, who as 1.401s clear at the front.
Behind the podium finishers, Andrew Jordan had a quiet but productive run to fourth. Having wriggled ahead of Adam Morgan off the line, the MG driver wasn’t able to stay with the frontrunners, but nevertheless racked up his best result of the season so far in his team’s 500th BTCC race.
Sam Tordoff also had a quiet run to sixth as West Surrey Racing’s trio of BMWs performed far better during the opening race than they had during qualifying, while sixth place went to Dave Newsham after an aggressive drive through the field from tenth.
Jack Goff pipped Rob Collard to seventh on the line, while Morgan held onto ninth as the best-placed soft tyre runner, ahead of Rob Austin.
A number of drivers had problems during the opening race. Aron Smith was unable to take the start in his Volkswagen Passat after problems brake fluid problems, while Mike Bushell and Dan Welch both pulled into the pits at the end of the formation lap. The former briefly joined the track, only to stop in the runoff area at the end of the main straight.
Points scoring results
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME/GAP | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 99 | Jason PLATO |  |
Team BMR | Volkswagen CC | 16 | 18:54.080 | 1:09.946 | 3 | |
| 2 | 52 | M | Gordon SHEDDEN | |
Honda Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 16 | 1.401 | 1:09.741 | 2 |
| 3 | 1 | Colin TURKINGTON | |
Team BMR | Volkswagen CC | 16 | 1.782 | 1:09.844 | 1 | |
| 4 | 77 | M | Andrew JORDAN | |
MG 888 Racing | MG 6GT | 16 | 5.961 | 1:10.056 | 5 |
| 5 | 7 | C | Sam TORDOFF | |
Team JCT600 with GardX | BMW 125i M Sport | 16 | 14.328 | 1:10.611 | 8 |
| 6 | 17 | Dave NEWSHAM | |
Power Maxed Racing | Chevrolet Cruze | 16 | 15.177 | 1:10.531 | 10 | |
| 7 | 31 | M | Jack GOFF | |
MG 888 Racing | MG 6GT | 16 | 20.279 | 1:10.287 | 13 |
| 8 | 6 | C | Rob COLLARD | |
Team JCT600 with GardX | BMW 125i M Sport | 16 | 20.314 | 1:10.519 | 19 |
| 9 | 33 | Adam MORGAN | |
WIX Racing | Mercedes Benz A-Class | 16 | 21.774 | 1:09.874 | 4 | |
| 10 | 101 | Rob AUSTIN | |
Exocet AlcoSense | Audi A4 | 16 | 22.269 | 1:10.750 | 12 | |
| 11 | 39 | Warren SCOTT | |
Team BMR | Volkswagen CC | 16 | 25.881 | 1:10.900 | 15 | |
| 12 | 111 | C | Andy PRIAULX | |
Team IHG Rewards Club | BMW 125i M Sport | 16 | 26.711 | 1:10.631 | 23 |
| 13 | 66 | Josh COOK | |
Power Maxed Racing | Chevrolet Cruze | 16 | 29.701 | 1:10.720 | 6 | |
| 14 | 55 | Jeff SMITH | |
Eurotech Racing | Honda Civic | 16 | 30.707 | 1:11.032 | 17 | |
| 15 | 30 | Martin DEPPER | |
Eurotech Racing | Honda Civic | 16 | 30.988 | 1:10.771 | 18 |