Tom Ingram put in a superlative display from the seventh row of the grid to win the second British Touring Car Championship race of the weekend at Donington Park.
The Speedworks Motorsport driver took the chequered flag 0.834 seconds clear of BTC Norlin’s Chris Smiley, who took his first podium in the series and championship rival Jack Goff’s Honda Civic Type R.
The disparity between Ingram and the latter means he extends his lead in the Drivers Championship to 8 points over the Eurotech racer.
Dan Cammish made the best start and led the early laps after a move into Redgate on pole-sitter Josh Cook, but struggled at half distance as the rapid trio of Ingram, Smiley and Goff cut their way through.
Smiley initially led that pack, but lost the eventual race lead from Ingram into the final chicane with six laps remaining.
Adam Morgan started on the twelfth row and finished an excellent fifth in the leading Mercedes A-Class, ahead of Motorbase’s James Cole.
Cook struggled to keep pace with the leaders in a ballast-laden Vauxhall Astra, eventually finishing seventh.
Reigning champion Ash Sutton might have hoped for more than eighth in the ballast-free, prime tyre shod Subaru Levorg GT but continues to bank points, with Rory Butcher ninth in another positive showing for the AmD-run MG6.
Tom Chilton put a messy opening race behind him in tenth, but team-mate Sam Tordoff in 11th was arguably the star of the race, recovering from the back row of the grid to cut his way through, strengthening the GardX-backed racer’s belief his Focus RS has the potential to win races this weekend.
Tom Oliphant, Rob Collard and the flagging Brett Smith and Aiden Moffat complete the top fifteen.
Colin Turkington endured a nightmare race after being hauled off the grid by his WSR engineers. The double champion briefly took part in the race from the pit lane, but retired at half-distance and scored no points.
Team-mate Andrew Jordan also struggled in 18th, whilst Jason Plato is still yet to score a point this season in 20th.
The grid for the reverse grid race will be made shortly, with the contest scheduled to get underway at 17:25.
Race result
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 80 | Tom INGRAM |  |
Speedworks Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 16 | 19:08.525 | 1:10.453 | 13 | |
| 2 | 22 | Chris SMILEY | |
BTC Norlin Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 16 | 0.834 | 1:10.559 | 7 | |
| 3 | 31 | Jack GOFF | |
WIX Racing with Eurotech | Honda Civic Type R | 16 | 3.484 | 1:10.521 | 12 | |
| 4 | 27 | M | Dan CAMMISH | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 16 | 6.214 | 1:10.994 | 2 |
| 5 | 33 | Adam MORGAN | |
MAC Tools with Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 16 | 6.555 | 1:10.160 | 22 | |
| 6 | 20 | James COLE | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher | Ford Focus RS | 16 | 7.696 | 1:10.719 | 5 | |
| 7 | 66 | M | Josh COOK | |
Power Maxed TAG Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 16 | 7.873 | 1:10.973 | 1 |
| 8 | 1 | M | Ashley SUTTON | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 16 | 8.396 | 1:10.566 | 11 |
| 9 | 6 | Rory BUTCHER | |
AmD with AutoAid / RCIB Insurance Racing | MG 6 | 16 | 12.803 | 1:10.793 | 21 | |
| 10 | 3 | Tom CHILTON | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher | Ford Focus RS | 16 | 14.495 | 1:10.432 | 28 | |
| 11 | 600 | Sam TORDOFF | |
Team GardX Racing with Motorbase | Ford Focus RS | 16 | 15.164 | 1:10.476 | 31 | |
| 12 | 15 | Tom OLIPHANT | |
Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 16 | 16.515 | 1:11.218 | 8 | |
| 13 | 5 | M | Rob COLLARD | |
Team BMW | BMW 125i M Sport | 16 | 18.590 | 1:11.160 | 10 |
| 14 | 39 | Brett SMITH | |
WIX Racing with Eurotech | Honda Civic Type R | 16 | 19.016 | 1:10.989 | 4 | |
| 15 | 16 | Aiden MOFFAT | |
Laser Tools Racing | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 16 | 21.024 | 1:11.660 | 3 | |
| 16 | 25 | M | Matt NEAL | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 16 | 21.306 | 1:11.651 | 6 |
| 17 | 12 | Tom BOARDMAN | |
AmD with AutoAid / RCIB Insurance Racing | MG 6 | 16 | 21.748 | 1:11.561 | 15 | |
| 18 | 77 | M | Andrew JORDAN | |
BMW Pirtek Racing | BMW 125i M Sport | 16 | 24.417 | 1:11.469 | 20 |
| 19 | 60 | Stephen JELLEY | |
Team Parker Racing | BMW 125i M Sport | 16 | 24.603 | 1:11.298 | 29 | |
| 20 | 99 | M | Jason PLATO | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 16 | 25.237 | 1:11.287 | 24 |
| 21 | 11 | Rob AUSTIN | |
DUO Motorsport with HMS Racing | Alfa Romeo Giulietta | 16 | 25.699 | 1:10.770 | 14 | |
| 22 | 18 | M | Senna PROCTOR | |
Power Maxed TAG Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 16 | 25.912 | 1:10.936 | 32 |
| 23 | 24 | Jake HILL | |
Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing | Volkswagen CC | 16 | 26.517 | 1:11.647 | 16 | |
| 24 | 19 | Bobby THOMPSON | |
Team HARD. with Trade Price Cars | Volkswagen CC | 16 | 27.001 | 1:11.340 | 19 | |
| 25 | 303 | Matt SIMPSON | |
Simpson Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 16 | 27.545 | 1:10.214 | 30 | |
| 26 | 28 | Josh PRICE | |
Autoglym Academy Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 16 | 28.659 | 1:11.643 | 25 | |
| 27 | 44 | Michael CAINE | |
Team HARD. with Trade Price Cars | Volkswagen CC | 16 | 30.236 | 1:11.711 | 23 | |
| 28 | 21 | Mike BUSHELL | |
Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing | Volkswagen CC | 16 | 31.411 | 1:11.592 | 26 | |
| 29 | 48 | Ollie JACKSON | |
AmD with Cobra Exhausts | Audi S3 | 16 | 1:08.515 | 1:10.755 | 18 | |
| R | 23 | Sam SMELT | |
AmD with Cobra Exhausts | Audi S3 | 8 | DNF | 1:11.237 | 27 | |
| R | 2 | M | Colin TURKINGTON | |
Team BMW | BMW 125i M Sport | 8 | DNF | 1:11.001 | 9 |
| R | 14 | James NASH | |
BTC Norlin Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 0 | DNF | 0:00.000 | 17 |