Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS' Tom Ingram held off a late charge from Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport's Jake Hill as the top two title contenders challenged for victory in the BTCC opener at an extremely wet Silverstone.
Hybrid deployment became a story of the race as Hill eventually ran out of the extra boost, whilst Ingram held back some additional power for the final laps to hang on for his fourth victory of the season.
Hill had already relegated BMW stablemate Colin Turkington earlier in the race, and the latter was forced further down the order as the NAPA Racing UK duo of Dan Cammish and Ash Sutton blasted by the 330e M Sport on hybrid power at the end of the Wellington Straight.
Cammish completed the podium and was arguably the fastest car on-track in the closing laps, as he hauled his #27 Ford Focus onto the rear bumper of Hill's Bavarian machine as the pair took the chequered flag.
The top five title challengers eventually filled the top five positions, whilst Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS' Tom Chilton and the recovering Josh Cook were next in the order.
Cook's LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ Toyota Corolla had been spun around earlier in the race by the NAPA Racing UK car of Dan Rowbottom, and while the former responded well it will have severely dented his slim title hopes. Cook was handed one boost post-race, however, when he was promoted to sixth after Chilton was adjudged to have gained an unfair advantage in the last gasp move on-track.
Sam Osborne (NAPA Racing UK), Andrew Watson (TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK) and Dan Zelos (Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS) completed the top ten positions. Rookie Zelos has been hugely impressive in his first two events, with a top ten finish just reward for his efforts so early in his BTCC career.
Two further BTCC contests will take place later today with the entire race day being broadcast LIVE and EXCLUSIVELY on ITV4.
Tom Ingram, Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS, said: “I was mindful of the pace that Jake [Hill] had behind. There was no point using the hybrid too early, I had to count the laps down so I could deploy them towards the end, but that meant allowing Jake to come towards us.
“He drove fantastically well and came back at the end, but I was happy to get a bit of a buffer, a bit of breathing room. I just had to keep my powder dry and not make any mistakes. It’s a good start and let’s see how the rest of the day goes.”
Silverstone – Race 1 – Final Classification:
P/ No/ Name/ Entry/ Laps/ Time/ Gap/ Best/ On/
1 80 Tom INGRAM Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS 22 23:38.761 1:04.114 15
2 24 Jake HILL Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport 22 23:39.402 0.641 1:03.862 19
3 27 Dan CAMMISH NAPA Racing UK 22 23:39.532 0.771 1:03.787 11
4 1 Ashley SUTTON NAPA Racing UK 22 23:42.281 3.520 1:03.642 12
5 20 Colin TURKINGTON Team BMW 22 23:46.960 8.199 1:04.176 22
6 3 Tom CHILTON Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS 22 23:53.427 14.666 1:03.960 17
7 66 Josh COOK LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ 22 23:54.615 15.854 1:04.241 7
8 77 Sam OSBORNE NAPA Racing UK 22 24:02.173 23.412 1:04.817 14
9 11 Andrew WATSON TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK 22 24:03.452 24.691 1:04.745 14
10 45 Dan ZELOS Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS 22 24:03.618 24.857 1:04.404 14
11 33 Adam MORGAN Team BMW 22 24:05.563 26.802 1:04.239 15
12 40 Árón TAYLOR-SMITH Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing 22 24:06.241 27.480 1:04.377 10
13 222 Chris SMILEY Restart Racing 22 24:07.429 28.668 1:04.539 11
14 16 Aiden MOFFAT LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ 22 24:11.664 32.903 1:04.832 11
15 29 Scott SUMPTON Restart Racing 22 24:11.943 33.182 1:04.709 16
16 22 Nick HALSTEAD Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS 22 24:13.098 34.337 1:04.797 12
17 12 Rob HUFF TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK 21 24:04.892 1 Lap 1:04.675 15
18 18 Daryl DELEON Duckhams Racing with Un-Limited Motorsport 21 24:25.217 1 Lap 1:04.624 14
DNF 32 Daniel ROWBOTTOM NAPA Racing UK 4 4:36.922 18 Laps 1:04.686 3
DNF 88 Mikey DOBLE Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing 0 0 0
