Tom Chilton leads Team Vertu 1-2 in tactical Donington opener

Tom Chilton led home team-mate Tom Ingram for a 1-2 Team Vertu result in the opening British Touring Car Championship race at Donington Park.

Pole-sitter Chilton led at the start, as Ingram came under brief early pressure from Restart Racing’s Chris Smiley.

However, the leading Hyundai duo quickly broke free of the Independent Hyundai, and Chilton had an eight tenths of a second advantage over Ingram until the duo swapped places on the fourth lap.

Ingram gained an additional point for leading the race and duly gave the lead back to Chilton two laps later, with the pair then cantering to the finish as Chilton scored his second win of the season and the 18^th of his BTCC career.

Daniel Rowbottom completed the podium as the leading NAPA Racing UK driver, having moved forward two places at the start before team-mate Dan Cammish allowed him into fourth on the third lap.

Rowbottom then dived inside Smiley for third a lap later, whilst Smiley fell back, the Northern Irishman complaining of a lack of engine power on the straights during the race.

Ash Sutton dived inside team-mate Cammish for fifth on lap five, before the pair passed Smiley on lap eight, and Sutton came home in fourth, giving him a tyre advantage over the podium finishers ahead, all of whom must start race two on the hard compound tyre.

Cammish followed Sutton home in fifth, ahead of the leading BMW of Jake Hill in sixth, the Laser Tools Racing driver having got ahead of Smiley on the ninth lap, with Team Vertu’s Adam Morgan also following through into seventh at the same time.

Senna Proctor got ahead of Smiley on the penultimate lap, with Smiley finishing in ninth as the leading Independent.

Árón Taylor-Smith completed the top ten as the leading Toyota driver, the Irishman having made up the most ground on the opening lap when he jumped three places.

WSR’s Daryl DeLeon was 11^th after falling seven places from his starting position, the youngster dropping five places with a poor start on the opening lap.

Toyota’s Gordon Shedden and WSR’s Charles Rainford enjoyed a late race battle for 12^th, with the former prevailing by repassing on the final lap at the Old Hairpin.

Race two is scheduled to get underway at 14:15 BST.

Race result

POS	NO	CL	NAT	DRIVER	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	BEST	GD
1	3	M		Tom CHILTON	Team Vertu	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	14	22:14.734	1:33.706	1
2	80	M		Tom INGRAM	Team Vertu	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	14	0.599	1:34.273	2
3	32	M		Daniel ROWBOTTOM	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	14	1.784	1:34.422	7
4	116	M		Ashley SUTTON	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	14	5.525	1:34.544	10
5	27	M		Dan CAMMISH	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	14	8.346	1:34.825	6
6	1	M		Jake HILL	Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport	BMW 330i M Sport	14	9.120	1:34.574	11
7	33	M		Adam MORGAN	Team Vertu	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	14	12.028	1:34.629	8
8	18	M		Senna PROCTOR	Team Vertu	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	14	14.319	1:34.705	5
9	22	I		Chris SMILEY	Restart Racing	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	14	14.598	1:35.035	3
10	40	M		Árón TAYLOR-SMITH	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	14	15.038	1:35.023	14
11	2	M		Daryl DELEON	WSR	BMW 330i M Sport	14	15.705	1:35.091	4
12	52	M		Gordon SHEDDEN	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	14	17.383	1:35.344	12
13	99	M		Charles RAINFORD	LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR	BMW 330i M Sport	14	17.760	1:34.802	15
14	123	I		Daniel LLOYD	Restart Racing	Hyundai i30 N Fastback	14	18.787	1:35.551	9
15	16	M		Aiden MOFFAT	LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR	BMW 330i M Sport	14	22.151	1:35.943	16
16	77	M		Sam OSBORNE	NAPA Racing UK	Ford Focus ST	14	22.698	1:35.764	17
17	88	I		Mikey DOBLE	Motor Parts Direct with Power Maxed Racing	CUPRA Leon	14	26.251	1:35.822	22
18	66	M		Josh COOK	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	14	27.423	1:35.528	18
19	17	I		Dexter PATTERSON	ROKiT Racing with Un-Limited Motorsport	CUPRA Leon	14	35.827	1:36.643	13
20	28	I		Nicolas HAMILTON	Powder Monkey Brewing Co with Esidock	CUPRA Leon	14	39.831	1:36.805	19
21	19	M		Max BUXTON	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA	Toyota Corolla GR Sport	14	40.285	1:36.724	20
22	50	I		Nick HALSTEAD	Motor Parts Direct with Power Maxed Racing	CUPRA Leon	14	48.262	1:36.874	21