Jack Goff gave Team HARD their first ever British Touring Car Championship victory in a highly dramatic final race after he made an inspired decision to run wet tyres as track conditions worsened at Silverstone.
The four-time BTCC winner pitted at the end of the green flag lap and applied wet tyres to his Volkswagen CC while the majoirty of the field started on slicks.
Track conditions then worsened as rain fell harder and Goff made up lost ground behind the safety car, which was deployed to recover Matt Simpson’s stricken Honda at Luffield.
Aiden Moffat followed suit under the safety car and put on wet tyres, battling Goff for the win before a spin on the exit of Copse corner cost him a shot at victory.
He continued to finish second and give the Infiniti Q50 its first ever series podium, while Matt Neal completed the podium after also benefitting from a tyre change.
In the early stages, polesitter Ash Sutton led the way as former team-mate Josh Cook also made progress, eventually taking the lead before conditions worsened and the safety car was deployed to recover Matt Simpson’s Honda, which had been hit by a sideways Andrew Jordan.
A raft of runners then pitted behind the safety car – Matt Neal the most successful of those – with Goff and Moffat going toe-to-toe for the lead in what was the wet-shod honours at that stage in the race.
As the pair progressed through the field, the runners on slicks fell back and eventually even cars who had dropped nearly a lap down progressed to fill the top ten.
Of those, Tom Oliphant capped off a strong day at Silverstone with fourth position, while Tom Chilton completed the top five in his Motorbase Performance Ford Focus RS.
Jason Plato also continued his strong run of results in sixth, while Colin Turkington cruically extended his advantage out front by finishing seventh, just one position ahead of title rival and WSR stablemate Andrew Jordan.
Fellow Team HARD racer Michael Crees secured his best-ever BTCC result in ninth as another to progress late on assisted by wet Dunlop rubber, while Bobby Thompson rounded out the top ten for a dream result for Team HARD.
Jake Hill was the first of the slick-shod runners to take the chequered flag in 11th, while Dan Cammish held on to finish 12th despite coming to blows with Josh Cook at Copse as the pair struggled on wet conditions, with the latter suffering from broken suspension which resulted in a non-score.
Mark Blundell was another to enjoy his best-ever result by making late progress to come home 13th, with the same applying to Rob Smith who secured his first points in 14th position.
Rounding out the points-paying positions was Ash Sutton, who pitted from second position to run wet rubber, but returned to the track a lap down.
In terms of the title ramifications, Turkington now enjoys a 16 point lead over Cammish heading into the final meeting at Brands Hatch, with fellow BMW runner Jordan a further point behind.
Race result
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 31 | I | Jack GOFF |  |
RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport | Volkswagen CC | 25 | 28:22.240 | 1:02.760 | 21 |
| 2 | 16 | I | Aiden MOFFAT | |
Laser Tools Racing | Infiniti Q50 | 25 | 7.300 | 1:03.625 | 29 |
| 3 | 25 | M | Matt NEAL | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 25 | 13.968 | 1:03.646 | 28 |
| 4 | 15 | M | Tom OLIPHANT | |
Team BMW | BMW 330i M Sport | 25 | 25.596 | 1:03.384 | 5 |
| 5 | 3 | I | Tom CHILTON | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher | Ford Focus RS | 25 | 26.295 | 1:03.143 | 20 |
| 6 | 11 | M | Jason PLATO | |
Sterling Insurance with Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 25 | 29.883 | 1:03.253 | 8 |
| 7 | 1 | M | Colin TURKINGTON | |
Team BMW | BMW 330i M Sport | 25 | 30.020 | 1:03.034 | 10 |
| 8 | 77 | M | Andrew JORDAN | |
BMW Pirtek Racing | BMW 330i M Sport | 25 | 33.061 | 1:02.973 | 4 |
| 9 | 777 | I | Michael CREES | |
GKR Scaffolding with Autobrite Direct | Volkswagen CC | 25 | 35.424 | 1:04.100 | 19 |
| 10 | 19 | I | Bobby THOMPSON | |
GKR Scaffolding with Autobrite Direct | Volkswagen CC | 25 | 37.015 | 1:03.526 | 13 |
| 11 | 24 | I | Jake HILL | |
TradePriceCars.com | Audi S3 | 25 | 40.813 | 1:05.652 | 16 |
| 12 | 27 | M | Dan CAMMISH | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 25 | 43.527 | 1:05.702 | 9 |
| 13 | 8 | I | Mark BLUNDELL | |
TradePriceCars.com | Audi S3 | 25 | 44.108 | 1:03.306 | 18 |
| 14 | 37 | I | Rob SMITH | |
Exceler8 Motorsport | MG6 | 25 | 49.349 | 1:03.789 | 22 |
| 15 | 116 | M | Ashley SUTTON | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg | 25 | 50.344 | 1:02.778 | 1 |
| 16 | 6 | I | Rory BUTCHER | |
Cobra Sport AmD AutoAid / RCIB Insurance | Honda Civic Type R | 25 | 1:02.332 | 1:06.286 | 27 |
| 17 | 21 | I | Mike BUSHELL | |
Cobra Sport AmD AutoAid / RCIB Insurance | Honda Civic Type R | 25 | 1:02.687 | 1:05.264 | 3 |
| 18 | 44 | I | Michael CAINE | |
Motorbase Performance | Ford Focus RS | 25 | 1:03.456 | 1:06.473 | 12 |
| 19 | 48 | I | Ollie JACKSON | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher | Ford Focus RS | 25 | 1:12.292 | 1:06.510 | 14 |
| 20 | 4 | I | Sam OSBORNE | |
Exceler8 Motorsport | MG6 | 24 | 1 Lap | 1:04.332 | 30 |
| 21 | 9 | M | Rob COLLARD | |
Sterling Insurance with Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 24 | 1 Lap | 1:06.590 | 26 |
| 22 | 80 | M | Tom INGRAM | |
Team Toyota GB with Ginsters | Toyota Corolla | 23 | 2 Laps | 1:02.978 | 11 |
| 23 | 12 | I | Stephen JELLEY | |
Team Parker Racing | BMW 125i M Sport | 23 | 2 Laps | 1:04.299 | 24 |
| 24 | 33 | I | Adam MORGAN | |
Mac Tools with Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 21 | 4 Laps | 1:06.252 | 25 |
| 25 | 18 | M | Senna PROCTOR | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg | 20 | 5 Laps | 1:04.541 | 15 |
| 26 | 66 | I | Josh COOK | |
BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 20 | 5 Laps | 1:03.096 | 7 |
| R | 22 | I | Chris SMILEY | |
BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 10 | DNF | 1:06.454 | 6 |
| R | 32 | I | Daniel ROWBOTTOM | |
Cataclean Racing with Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 8 | DNF | 1:07.163 | 17 |
| R | 303 | I | Matt SIMPSON | |
Simpson Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 0 | DNF | N/A | 2 |
| R | 41 | I | Carl BOARDLEY | |
RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport | Volkswagen CC | 0 | DNF | N/A | 23 |
