Excelr8 Motorsport’s Daniel Lloyd claimed an emotional victory in the opening British Touring Car Championship race at Croft, having got into the lead on the first lap of the race.
Lloyd started the race from third on the grid, but a strong start meant he was past Daniel Rowbottom’s Honda at the first corner, before a brave move past Turkington’s BMW, which was still building tyre temperature, at the Jim Clark Esses further around the lap saw him take the lead.
Thereafter Lloyd had to manage two safety car restarts and sustained pressure from Team BMW’s Turkington, but he held on to secure his second outright victory in the championship by less than half a second.
Team Dynamics’ Rowbottom claimed the final podium place, his first of the season, although he too came under heavy pressure, withstanding the advances of Excelr8’s Tom Ingram in fourth.
Ingram’s fourth, combined with a challenging race for BTC Racing’s Josh Cook, means he has closed to just two points behind the latter in the drivers’ standings.
MB Motorsport’s Jake Hill took fifth, the BMW driver moving up one place in the race when Team Dynamics’ Gordon Shedden retired on the opening lap after picking up front-left suspension damage in the first sequence of corners.
NAPA Racing’s Ash Sutton likewise had a relatively quiet race, taking the chequered flag in sixth after also gaining just one position.
Toyota’s Rory Butcher made up four places on the opening lap and finished in seventh, ahead of Laser Tools Racing’s Aiden Moffat in eighth, who was the top independent and claimed his second successive class victory.
The top ten was completed by Ciceley Motorsport’s George Gamble and Excelr8’s Tom Chilton, the latter having dropped two places on the opening lap following a poor getaway.
In the lower points places there were drivers who made modest gains on their grid positions – with Team BMW’s Stephen Jelley in 11th through to Excelr8’s James Gornall in 14th all making just one place.
Cook took the flag in 15th, scoring just one points for his championship charge, although he did make up five places in the race.
Of note, Ciceley Motorsport’s Adam Morgan had been running in 15th before he was hit by Jason Plato at Sunny In on the second lap, spinning him to the back of the field – he eventually finished in 19th after passing five cars late in the race.
The first safety car period, from laps four to six, was needed to recover the Ford Focus of Ollie Jackson, who had crashed into the barriers at Sunny In, whilst the second intervention on laps 14 and 15 was required to move Árón Taylor-Smith’s stricken CUPRA after he crashed into the barriers at the exit of the chicane after an incident on his own which resulted in broken right-rear suspension.
Race two is scheduled to get underway at 14:35 BST.
Race one result
| POS | NO | CL | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 123 | M |  |
Daniel LLOYD | Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com | Hyundai i30 Fastback N | 18 | 28:10.977 | 1:22.498 | 3 |
| 2 | 50 | M | |
Colin TURKINGTON | Team BMW | BMW 330e M Sport | 18 | 0.377 | 1:22.455 | 1 |
| 3 | 32 | M | |
Daniel ROWBOTTOM | Halfords Racing with Cataclean | Honda Civic Type R | 18 | 0.779 | 1:22.350 | 2 |
| 4 | 80 | M | |
Tom INGRAM | Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com | Hyundai i30 Fastback N | 18 | 1.167 | 1:22.327 | 4 |
| 5 | 24 | M | |
Jake HILL | ROKiT MB Motorsport | BMW 330e M Sport | 18 | 2.209 | 1:22.429 | 6 |
| 6 | 1 | M | |
Ashley SUTTON | NAPA Racing UK | Ford Focus ST | 18 | 2.734 | 1:22.710 | 7 |
| 7 | 6 | M | |
Rory BUTCHER | Toyota GAZOO Racing UK | Toyota Corolla GR Sport | 18 | 3.447 | 1:22.803 | 11 |
| 8 | 16 | I | |
Aiden MOFFAT | Laser Tools Racing | Infiniti Q50 | 18 | 3.747 | 1:22.882 | 10 |
| 9 | 42 | I | |
George GAMBLE | Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport | BMW 330e M Sport | 18 | 4.345 | 1:22.702 | 9 |
| 10 | 3 | M | |
Tom CHILTON | Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com | Hyundai i30 Fastback N | 18 | 5.394 | 1:22.820 | 8 |
| 11 | 12 | M | |
Stephen JELLEY | Team BMW | BMW 330e M Sport | 18 | 5.669 | 1:22.856 | 12 |
| 12 | 19 | I | |
Bobby THOMPSON | Autobrite Direct with JourneyHero | CUPRA Leon | 18 | 6.362 | 1:23.043 | 13 |
| 13 | 9 | M | |
Dan CAMMISH | NAPA Racing UK | Ford Focus ST | 18 | 6.774 | 1:22.961 | 14 |
| 14 | 18 | M | |
James GORNALL | Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 TradePriceCars.com | Hyundai i30 Fastback N | 18 | 7.395 | 1:22.524 | 15 |
| 15 | 66 | I | |
Josh COOK | Rich Energy BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 18 | 7.899 | 1:22.813 | 20 |
| 16 | 777 | I | |
Michael CREES | CarStore Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 18 | 8.949 | 1:22.963 | 21 |
| 17 | 11 | I | |
Jason PLATO | Rich Energy BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 18 | 10.105 | 1:22.936 | 18 |
| 18 | 97 | I | |
Ash HAND | CarStore Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 18 | 10.734 | 1:22.858 | 23 |
| 19 | 33 | I | |
Adam MORGAN | Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport | BMW 330e M Sport | 18 | 11.008 | 1:22.833 | 17 |
| 20 | 17 | I | |
Dexter PATTERSON | Laser Tools Racing | Infiniti Q50 | 18 | 11.181 | 1:23.060 | 28 |
| 21 | 77 | M | |
Sam OSBORNE | Apec Racing with Beavis Morgan | Ford Focus ST | 18 | 13.436 | 1:23.369 | 22 |
| 22 | 99 | I | |
Jade EDWARDS | Rich Energy BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 18 | 14.265 | 1:23.804 | 25 |
| 23 | 28 | I | |
Nicolas HAMILTON | Yazoo with Safuu.com Racing | CUPRA Leon | 18 | 15.687 | 1:23.949 | 26 |
| 24 | 21 | M | |
Ricky COLLARD | Toyota GAZOO Racing UK | Toyota Corolla GR Sport | 17 | 1 Lap | 1:23.079 | 16 |
| R | 40 | I |  |
Árón TAYLOR-SMITH | Yazoo with Safuu.com Racing | CUPRA Leon | 12 | DNF | 1:23.057 | 24 |
| R | 20 | I | |
Will POWELL | Autobrite Direct with JourneyHero | CUPRA Leon | 11 | DNF | 1:24.579 | 27 |
| R | 48 | M | |
Ollie JACKSON | Apec Racing with Beavis Morgan | Ford Focus ST | 1 | DNF | 1:37.357 | 19 |
| R | 52 | M | |
Gordon SHEDDEN | Halfords Racing with Cataclean | Honda Civic Type R | 1 | DNF | N/A | 5 |
| NS | 41 | I | |
Carl BOARDLEY | Uptonsteel with Euro Car Parts Racing | Infiniti Q50 | – | DNS | N/A | – |