Mat Jackson secured the opening win of the day at Donington Park, bringing the Redstone Racing Ford Focus home having lined up sixth on the grid. For Jackson, it marked his first race one victory since 2009.
Click here for full Round 4 results.
Completing the podium was Honda Yuasa Racing Team team-mates Gordon Shedden and Matt Neal, the latter having to keep the Triple Eight MG6 of Jason Plato behind.
Off the line, Plato lost the lead to the fast-starting eBay Motors BMW 320si of Rob Collard while Jackson was flying and soon found himself second, before dropping back to third before the end of the opening lap.
The opening five laps of the race saw Collard build up a 1.5 second lead which was rapidly reduced by Plato, who he subsequently had to defend from. Plato in turn had to defend from Jackson. This gave the Honda duo the chance to catch up and soon enough, it was a five way battle for the lead.
Up at the Goddards chicane on lap five, Plato looked to the inside of Collard and Jackson looked to follow Plato through. Jackson ended up leading with Plato dropping down the order; Collard was the main loser and he dropped from the lead down to sixth in one corner.
The reshuffled order saw Jackson leading from Shedden, Neal, Plato, Tom Onslow-Cole and Collard, while Dave Newsham and Andrew Jordan were closing in on the leaders and looked to make it eight for the lead.
Jackson and Shedden slowly pulled away from the chasing pack, where the main action came from Neal and Plato. Plato looked to get ahead of his Honda rival but was unable to make the pass.
Having led the early stages of the race, Collard was soon falling back down the order, losing positions to Newsham, Jordan and Frank Wrathall to wind up tenth at the chequered flag.
The closing laps saw the battle for first and third heat up as Shedden closed in on Jackson while Plato was on the tail of Neal, and the final lap saw Plato look to take the final step of the podium on the run down to the Old Hairpin but backed out at Neal held on.
Jackson became the fourth different winner in four races and has moved himself up the Championship standings from ninth to fifth, while Plato has seen his Championship advantage reduced by a single point by Neal.
Race two takes place at 1412 GMT.