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Mat Jackson claims controlled race one victory

Mat Jackson claimed victory in the opening Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship race of the weekend at Donington Park, ahead of MG ace Josh Cook and a surging Tom Ingram in the Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Avensis.

Mat Jackson made a lightning start in the Ford Focus ST, immediately deposing the MG duo of Ashley Sutton and Josh Cook before turning right into the first corner at Redgate. Sutton dropped back into the clutches of Rob Collard in the BMW 125i M-Sport whilst his team-mate maintained second behind Jackson. The safety car was deployed at the end of the opening lap as Ollie Jackson headed for the gravel trap at turn one.

The notable winners from the opening exchanges were Tom Ingram and the BMW duo of Collard and Goff who demoted reigning champion Gordon Shedden down to seventh. The Team BMR duo of Colin Turkington and Jason Plato also improved on their starting slots to run 10th and 14th behind the safety car.

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There were issues for Jake Hill, who dropped down to the rear of the field after a trip across the grass after running an impressive 9th following his fifth row start on the grid. After a trip to the pitlane and a new right rear tyre, he rejoined the fray on the fourth lap.

However, it was the left-rear that proved a problem for Martin Depper as it came loose and detached through Redgate on Lap 5, forcing the Eurotech Honda wide across the gravel. Depper attempted to rejoin the circuit before realising the extent of the problem and making a beeline back across the track to safety on the opposite side.

At the front, Jackson extended his advantage by a tenth of a second lap on lap, but the real fight was for the four positions immediately behind him on the road.

MG duo Cook and Sutton were virtually nose-to-bumper and had both Brands Hatch winner Tom Ingram and the fast-starting Collard in close company.

Things began to unravel for Sutton on lap eleven, with Ingram seizing third from the rookie into Redgate, before Collard then squeezed through under braking down the Craner Curves. Jack Goff further relegated the MG driver to 6th into Coppice, though the reigning Clio Cup champion put up a spirited fight in an attempt to reclaim the lost ground, but ultimately had to slot behind.

The race continued to get worse for the soft tyre-shod Halfords Yuasa Racing works Type R machines, with both Shedden and Matt Neal losing places to Jeff Smith and Arón Smith respectively, relegating the Honda drivers who were later passed by WSR’s Sam Tordoff and BMR’s Colin Turkington.

Sutton reclaimed fifth from Collard on lap fourteen in a similar move down the Craner Curves to the one that initially bested him, though the MG took to the outside of the series stalwart as opposed to the inside line to take the place.

With three laps to run there was a big accident between Dan Welch and former Intermarque champion Matt Simpson into Coppice, neccesitating another safety car period as debris littered the area surrounding the damaged cars. The incident occurred as a result of Welch taking to the grass heading through McLean corner, with Simpson unable to avoid the Proton Gen-2 as it came back across the circuit.

James Cole then completed the plethora of dramas as his Subaru Levorg caught fire heading down the main straight, forcing him to park up at the end of the pit lane and clamber swiftly out of the car. That brought out the red flags and brought the first contest of the weekend to a conclusion, with Mat Jackson victorious ahead of Josh Cook and Tom Ingram.

Race result

POS NO CL DRIVER NAT ENTRANT CAR LAPS TIME/GAP BEST GD
1 7 Mat JACKSON Motorbase Performance Ford Focus 15 18:16.822 1:10.466 3
2 66 M Josh COOK MG Racing RCIB Insurance MG6GT 15 1.86 1:10.624 2
3 80 Tom INGRAM Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Avensis 15 0.217 1:10.669 5
4 31 C Jack GOFF Team IHG Rewards Club BMW 125i M Sport 15 6.717 1:10.586 8
5 116 M Ashley SUTTON MG Racing RCIB Insurance MG6GT 15 0.355 1:10.758 1
6 100 C Rob COLLARD Team JCT600 with GardX BMW 125i M Sport 15 1.175 1:10.506 6
7 55 Jeff SMITH Eurotech Racing Honda Civic Type R 15 4.483 1:11.021 12
8 40 Árón SMITH BKR Volkswagen CC 15 1.616 1:11.132 7
9 600 C Sam TORDOFF Team JCT600 with GardX BMW 125i M Sport 15 1.567 1:10.851 21
10 4 M Colin TURKINGTON Subaru Team BMR Subaru Levorg GT 15 1.599 1:11.373 11
11 52 M Gordon SHEDDEN Halfords Yuasa Racing Honda Civic Type R 15 0.519 1:11.174 4
12 25 M Matt NEAL Halfords Yuasa Racing Honda Civic Type R 15 0.757 1:11.288 9
13 33 Adam MORGAN WIX Racing Mercedes-Benz A-Class 15 0.256 1:11.437 14
14 77 Andrew JORDAN Motorbase Performance Ford Focus 15 0.975 1:11.322 25
15 53 Hunter ABBOTT Power Maxed Racing Chevrolet Cruze 15 3.659 1:11.426 13
16 16 Aiden MOFFAT Laser Tools Racing Mercedes-Benz A-Class 15 0.897 1:11.449 23
17 99 M Jason PLATO Subaru Team BMR Subaru Levorg GT 15 5.773 1:11.658 18
18 11 Rob AUSTIN Handy Motorsport Toyota Avensis 15 1.256 1:11.177 15
19 12 Mike EPPS RCIB Insurance Racing Toyota Avensis 15 3.074 1:12.088 24
20 14 Alex MARTIN Dextra Racing with Team Parker Ford Focus 15 0.472 1:12.096 27
21 48 Ollie JACKSON AmD Tuning Audi S3 15 0.437 1:11.650 19
22 22 Chris SMILEY TLC Racing Toyota Avensis 15 5.197 1:12.107 28
23 38 Mark HOWARD BKR Volkswagen CC 15 3.095 1:12.149 30
24 84 Kelvin FLETCHER Power Maxed Racing Chevrolet Cruze 15 10.483 1:12.372 31
25 39 M Warren SCOTT Subaru Team BMR Subaru Levorg GT 15 21.782 1:12.306 16
26 24 Jake HILL RCIB Insurance Racing Toyota Avensis 14 1 Lap 1:11.883 10
R 20 M James COLE Subaru Team BMR Subaru Levorg GT 15 40.28 1:11.819 17
R 303 Matt SIMPSON Speedworks Motorsport Honda Civic Type R 13 2 Laps 1:11.359 22
R 17 Dan WELCH Goodestone Racing Proton Persona 13 2 Laps 1:11.600 20
R 95 Stewart LINES Maximum Motorsport Ford Focus 10 3 Laps 1:13.531 29
R 30 Martin DEPPER Eurotech Racing Honda Civic Type R 4 6 Laps 1:13.065 26

Complete race results

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