Carlube TripleR Racing with Mac Tools' Adam Morgan produced a defensive masterclass to take an emotional home win in a truncated final Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship race at Oulton Park.
Morgan got the jump on pole-sitter Bobby Thompson off the line as the Audi S3 bogged down and would later tumble down the order, whilst Team BMW pairing Tom Oliphant and Colin Turkington made their way towards the front.
Laser Tools Racing's Ash Sutton also joined the lead party and suddenly Morgan had three flying rear-wheel drive machines in his mirrors, bringing about a period of intense pressure.
Whilst the leading positions remained the same for much of the contest, it always felt tense, and Morgan had to make his Mercedes A-Class as wide as possible particularly on the entry to a number of the slower corners around the 2.23-mile Island layout.
Second placed Oliphant indicated to let team-mate Turkington through to have a go at cracking Morgan's resolve, but the Lancastrian would not be denied, with his victory confirmed under red flag conditions following a late multiple-car incident involving Stephen Jelley (Team Parker Racing), Nic Hamilton (ROKiT Racing with Team HARD) and Ollie Brown (RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport Team HARD).
The lead quartet were followed by two battling pairs of racers as Senna Proctor (Excelr8 Motorsport) closely followed Tom Chilton (BTC Racing), whilst Rory Butcher (Motorbase Performance) pressured Jake Hill (MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square) home behind them.
Chris Smiley again performed well to take ninth for Excelr8 Motorsport, whilst Aiden Moffat ensured both Laser Tools Racing Infinitis finished inside the top ten.
Halfords Yuasa Racing endured a tough final encounter as both Dan Cammish and Matt Neal tumbled out of contention.
There was finally some better news for the unfortunate Josh Cook, who had endured a race exclusion and accident in the opening two bouts, but this time the Bath racer was able to charge through the field to take 11th.
The overall headline, however, belonged to Ciceley Motorsport and their man Morgan, who was overcome with emotion during his interview live on ITV4.
Adam Morgan said: "A win at our home track, with our sponsors Carlube Triple R here too, it couldn’t have happened at a better time! It was very difficult, having Colin behind me for that many laps. In a way, I’m happy it was cut short, but obviously I hope everyone involved in the crash is okay. I’m delighted for everyone at Ciceley Motorsport. We’ve worked and worked and worked with the Mercedes and we keep finding little bits here and there and she’s come good.
"It’s tough, after a period of time in touring cars you realise the strengths and weaknesses of the front wheel drives and the rear wheel drives. I knew Colin would be quick coming out of the last corner and the hairpin so I thought, ‘get it stopped, make them wait and drive away’. I’m a bit emotional actually. It’s a massive boost to everyone. We just keep pushing, never give up, never stop trying."
2020 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Race 3 – Oulton Park
1 Adam MORGAN (GBR) Carlube TripleR Racing with Mac Tools 10 laps
2 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +0.250s
3 Tom OLIPHANT (GBR) Team BMW +0.544s
4 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +0.931s
5 Tom CHILTON (GBR) BTC Racing +5.075s
6 Senna PROCTOR (GBR) Excelr8 Motorsport +5.624s
7 Jake HILL (GBR) MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square +7.220s
8 Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Motorbase Performance +7.977s
9 Chris SMILEY (GBR) Excelr8 Motorsport +8.981s
10 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +9.273s
11 Josh COOK (GBR) BTC Racing +10.388s
12 Sam OSBORNE (GBR) MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square +12.342s
13 Jack GOFF (GBR) RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport +13.802
14 Carl BOARDLEY (GBR) HUB Financial Solutions with Team HARD +18.675s
15 Dan CAMMISH (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +19.094s
16 Jack BUTEL (GBR) Carlube TripleR Racing with Mac Tools +26.958s
17 Mike BUSHELL (GBR) Power Maxed Car Care Racing +30.276s
18 Bobby THOMPSON (GBR) GKR TradePriceCars.com +30.327s
19 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) Motorbase Performance +32.860s
20 Andy NEATE (GBR) Motorbase Performance +44.462s
21 James GORNALL (GBR) GKR TradePriceCars.com +43.386s
22 Ollie BROWN (GBR) RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport Team HARD +1 lap
23 Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team Parker Racing +1 lap
24 Nicolas HAMILTON (GBR) ROKiT Racing with Team HARD +3 laps
25 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +9 laps
26 Michael CREES (GBR) The Clever Baggers with BTC Racing +9 laps
27 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Toyota Gazoo Racing UK with Ginsters +10 laps
