Colin Turkington converted pole position into a comfortable victory in the first British Touring Car Championship race of the weekend at Croft.
A typically rapid start in the Team BMW star’s rear-wheel drive 330e M Sport challenger gave him the perfect platform to break away from Tom Ingram (EXCELR8 Hyundai) in the opening laps, as the latter deposed Dan Cammish’s NAPA Racing UK-run Ford for second at the chicane.
Aside from a half-look on the outside line into the hairpin on the opening tour, Ingram seemed content to settle for second spot.
The gap between the pair initially hovered around the 1-second mark, but extended in the closing laps and was 1.746s at the chequered flag, with Ingram beating Cammish to second and third respectively by a similar margin.
The victory kickstarts Turkington’s own charge for championship honours in the second half of the campaign and reinforces the four-time champion’s widely-used “King of Croft” moniker, with this victory being the 15th of his silverware-laden career at the 2.1-mile Yorkshire circuit.
Reigning champion Ash Sutton scaled the order to finish fourth, passing the Hard-shod Toyota Corolla of Rob Huff into the Jim Clark Esses on the first tour, then Aron Taylor-Smith’s Power Maxed Racing-run Vauxhall at the chicane a lap later.
Taylor-Smith was a comfortable fifth, and scored an 11th Independent victory of the campaign, with erstwhile championship leader Jake Hill (MB Motorsport) sixth, despite a charge through from 11th on the grid.
Significantly, with Ingram second, that means the Hyundai driver takes over the lead of the championship standings, with an eight-point swing taking him from four behind to four ahead.
Huff eventually finished seventh as the leader of the unofficial ‘Hard Compound’ class, with he and the following 13 cars all opting to dispense with the less-favoured compound of tyre in the opening race.
Behind Huff was fellow Speedworks-run entry Josh Cook, with Tom Chilton (EXCELR8) and Dan Rowbottom’s NAPA Racing Ford completing the top ten.
Andrew Watson (Toyota) was next, ahead of Mikey Doble (Vauxhall), who took the honours among those eligible for the Jack Sears Trophy in 12th.
Adam Morgan advanced a few places in the final WSR-run BMW, with Aiden Moffat surviving a slide to claim 14th. Chris Smiley’s CUPRA held its own up front in the opening laps, but was gradually shuffled back from seventh to the final points-paying position in 15th.
Ronan Pearson’s Hyundai, the CUPRAs of Scott Sumpton and Daryl Deleon, Sam Osbourne’s Ford – via a slide at Sunny In – and Nick Halstead’s Hyundai round out the 20-strong field.
The second race of the day is scheduled to get underway at 14:45 (BST).
Race result
| POS | NO | CL | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 20 | M |  |
Colin TURKINGTON | Team BMW | BMW 330e M Sport | 15 | 20:50.152 | 1:22.243 | 1 |
| 2 | 80 | M | |
Tom INGRAM | BRISTOL STREET MOTORS | Hyundai i30 N Fastback | 15 | 1.746 | 1:22.570 | 3 |
| 3 | 27 | M | |
Dan CAMMISH | NAPA Racing UK | Ford Focus ST | 15 | 3.562 | 1:22.516 | 2 |
| 4 | 1 | M | |
Ashley SUTTON | NAPA Racing UK | Ford Focus ST | 15 | 4.114 | 1:22.589 | 6 |
| 5 | 40 | I |  |
Árón TAYLOR-SMITH | Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 15 | 10.231 | 1:22.799 | 4 |
| 6 | 24 | M | |
Jake HILL | Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport | BMW 330e M Sport | 15 | 15.774 | 1:23.115 | 11 |
| 7 | 12 | M | |
Rob HUFF | TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK | Toyota Corolla GR Sport | 15 | 19.755 | 1:23.640 | 5 |
| 8 | 66 | M | |
Josh COOK | LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ | Toyota Corolla GR Sport | 15 | 28.886 | 1:23.903 | 9 |
| 9 | 3 | M | |
Tom CHILTON | BRISTOL STREET MOTORS | Hyundai i30 N Fastback | 15 | 31.080 | 1:23.832 | 8 |
| 10 | 32 | M | |
Daniel ROWBOTTOM | NAPA Racing UK | Ford Focus ST | 15 | 32.165 | 1:23.740 | 13 |
| 11 | 11 | M | |
Andrew WATSON | TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK | Toyota Corolla GR Sport | 15 | 34.815 | 1:24.552 | 12 |
| 12 | 88 | I | |
Mikey DOBLE | Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 15 | 35.431 | 1:24.541 | 10 |
| 13 | 33 | M | |
Adam MORGAN | Team BMW | BMW 330e M Sport | 15 | 39.627 | 1:24.134 | 16 |
| 14 | 16 | M | |
Aiden MOFFAT | LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ | Toyota Corolla GR Sport | 15 | 40.530 | 1:24.411 | 15 |
| 15 | 222 | I | |
Chris SMILEY | Restart Racing | CUPRA Leon | 15 | 42.891 | 1:24.073 | 7 |
| 16 | 14 | M | |
Ronan PEARSON | BRISTOL STREET MOTORS | Hyundai i30 N Fastback | 15 | 43.522 | 1:24.368 | 18 |
| 17 | 29 | I | |
Scott SUMPTON | Restart Racing | CUPRA Leon | 15 | 44.594 | 1:24.730 | 19 |
| 18 | 18 | I |  |
Daryl DELEON | Duckhams Racing with Bartercard | CUPRA Leon | 15 | 46.946 | 1:23.946 | 14 |
| 19 | 77 | M | |
Sam OSBORNE | NAPA Racing UK | Ford Focus ST | 15 | 48.421 | 1:24.257 | 17 |
| 20 | 22 | M | |
Nick HALSTEAD | BRISTOL STREET MOTORS | Hyundai i30 N Fastback | 15 | 52.706 | 1:25.055 | 20 |