WestCoast Racing’s Dan Lloyd took the victory with a last-lap pass on polesitter Ollie Taylor to extend his unbeaten streak to seven race wins in the 2018 TCR UK Series.
LLoyd initially dropped back to fourth after a poor start, but avoided drama and would then recover to second position behind Taylor.
He chipped away for the second half of the race, before diving down the inside of Taylor at Quarry Corner on the final lap, the pair making contact before Lloyd made the move stick at The Esses.
Lloyd’s WestCoast Racing stable-mate Andreas Bäckman completed the podium after a strong race, ahead of Lewis Kent who held Lloyd at bay during the opening laps of the race.
There was drama aplenty at the start after standings leader Lloyd got a poor getaway and dropped to fourth as Andreas Bäckman jumped to second.
It was three-wide for third into Quarry Corner on the opening lap, with Andreas’ sibling Jessica making contact with a fast-starting Finlay Crocker.
Crocker was sideways across the grass and made contact with Stewart Lines, who was forced to bit due to radiator damage.
Maximum Motorsport’s Carl Swift was fifth, and was given some breathing space after Derek Palmer’s Alfa Romeo – which had been challenging Swift’s CUPRA – slowed before pitting with a few laps remaining.
It marked a weekend of further difficulties for the DPE Motorsport squad, as Robert Gilmour was unable to start the opening race due to an ongoing ECU problem which has marred his running this weekend.
Darelle Wilson, who was set to start the reverse-grid race from pole position, was another non-starter and will not be racing today after his Vauxhall Astra sustained extensive damage in qualifying yesterday.
The reverse-grid contest is scheduled to start at 15:45 BST.
UPDATE – Pyro Motorsport’s Ollie Taylor is confirmed as the winner of the opening TCR UK race at Castle Combe, after standings leader Dan Lloyd was handed a one-second penalty for his forceful move on the final lap.
Revised race result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 32 | Oliver TAYLOR |  |
Pyro Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R TCR | 24 | 30:22.346 | 1:07.976 | 1 |
| 2 | 23 | Dan LLOYD | |
WestCoast Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 24 | 0.436 | 1:07.943 | 2 |
| 3 | 19 | Andreas BÄCKMAN |  |
WestCoast Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 24 | 7.066 | 1:08.455 | 3 |
| 4 | 38 | Lewis KENT | |
Essex & Kent Motorsport | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 24 | 12.076 | 1:08.675 | 5 |
| 5 | 45 | Carl SWIFT | |
Endurance Financial Racing | CUPRA TCR V3 DSG | 24 | 18.735 | 1:08.766 | 7 |
| 6 | 26 | Jessica BÄCKMAN | |
WestCoast Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 22 | + 2 LAPS | 1:11.127 | 4 |
| R | 61 | Derek PALMER | |
DPE Motorsport | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 18 | DNF | 1:08.597 | 10 |
| R | 95 | Stewart LINES | |
Maximum Motorsport | CUPRA TCR V3 DSG | 1 | DNF | N/A | 8 |
| R | 8 | Finlay CROCKER | |
Verizon Connect Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 0 | DNF | N/A | 6 |
| NS | 50 | Darelle WILSON | |
DW Racing | Vauxhall Astra TCR | – | DNS | N/A | 9 |
| NS | 76 | Robert GILMOUR | |
DPE Motorsport | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | – | DNS | N/A | 11 |