Gordon Shedden won the opening British Touring Car Championship race of the day at Thruxton, heading home Honda team-mate Matt Neal and the Mercedes A-Class of Adam Morgan.
Having started the race in second, Scotsman Shedden got a better start that polesitter Aron Smith to take the lead, and remained unchallenged to the flag to finish 1.106s clear of Neal, with Morgan completing the podium after a puncture for Smith at the three-quarter distance.
As the race started, Shedden took full advantage as Smith span his wheels off the line to grab the lead, with Neal also slithering past the BMR driver into second place.
A fast-starting Andy Priaulx looked to sneak into third in his West Surrey Racing BMW, before dropping back into fifth after Smith and Morgan battled their way back past.
After regaining his composure, Smith looked to fight back into second past Neal – who had been gapped by his team-mate – but couldn’t make the most of a look up the inside of Goodwood, with Neal then defending the position by braking later than Smith and Morgan into the chicane.
Having set the fastest lap, Jason Plato found a way past Priaulx on lap four but was unable to make much progress in his pursuit of the battle for second.
Things stayed relatively settled until the closing quarter of the race, when Smith went wide on the exit of Church. rejoining the circuit, the Irishman spun his Volkswagen CC with a flat front-left, and returned to the pits as another podium finish slipped from his grasp.
There were no such problems for Shedden, however, as he cruised to a second win of the season with Neal and Morgan both comfortable in second and third.
After Smith’s late demise, Plato had a quiet but useful run to fourth in his BMR Volkswagen, and will start the second race of the day from pole after his early effort was the fastest lap of the encounter.
Plato’s early pass on Priaulx had been the start of a plummet down the order for the Guernseyman, but he fought back well to claim fifth as a gaggle of cars squabbled for the position with two laps to go, with the equally opportunistic Andrew Jordan claiming sixth.
Colin Turkington came home in seventh ahead of Jack Goff – who will start race two in second – while Josh Cook and Tom Ingram completed the top ten.
Race two starts at 14:32 BST.
Points scoring result
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME/GAP | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 52 | M | Gordon SHEDDEN |  |
Honda Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 16 | 21:05.473 | 1:17.741 | 2 |
| 2 | 25 | M | Matt NEAL | |
Honda Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 16 | 1.016 | 1:17.822 | 3 |
| 3 | 33 | Adam MORGAN | |
WIX Racing | Mercedes Benz A-Class | 16 | 2.71 | 1:17.724 | 4 | |
| 4 | 99 | Jason PLATO | |
Team BMR | Volkswagen CC | 16 | 9.866 | 1:17.388 | 6 | |
| 5 | 111 | C | Andy PRIAULX | |
Team IHG Rewards Club | BMW 125i M Sport | 16 | 12.047 | 1:17.855 | 5 |
| 6 | 77 | M | Andrew JORDAN | |
MG 888 Racing | MG 6GT | 16 | 13.612 | 1:18.231 | 11 |
| 7 | 1 | Colin TURKINGTON | |
Team BMR | Volkswagen CC | 16 | 14.159 | 1:18.182 | 9 | |
| 8 | 31 | M | Jack GOFF | |
MG 888 Racing | MG 6GT | 16 | 15.631 | 1:17.417 | 7 |
| 9 | 66 | Josh COOK | |
Power Maxed Racing | Chevrolet Cruze | 16 | 15.719 | 1:18.047 | 8 | |
| 10 | 80 | Tom INGRAM | |
Speedworks Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 16 | 15.977 | 1:18.615 | 17 | |
| 11 | 7 | C | Sam TORDOFF | |
Team JCT600 with GardX | BMW 125i M Sport | 16 | 16.207 | 1:18.389 | 12 |
| 12 | 30 | Martin DEPPER | |
Eurotech Racing | Honda Civic | 16 | 18.876 | 1:18.153 | 13 | |
| 13 | 6 | C | Rob COLLARD | |
Team JCT600 with GardX | BMW 125i M Sport | 16 | 21.127 | 1:17.586 | 10 |
| 14 | 101 | Rob AUSTIN | |
Exocet AlcoSense | Audi A4 | 16 | 21.835 | 1:18.615 | 19 | |
| 15 | 16 | Aiden MOFFAT | |
Laser Tools Racing | Mercedes Benz A-Class | 16 | 26.963 | 1:18.849 | 15 |