Team BMW's Colin Turkington cruised to a lights-to-flag victory in the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship opener at Knockhill, taking West Surrey Racing's 100th BTCC win in the process.
Turkington blasted his BMW 330i M Sport away from pole position and duly pulled away from the rest of the pack, before an early safety car period halted his progress.
The #2 car was never under pressure, however, as Turkington again stretched his legs following the restart to take a much needed victory in his bid to win a fifth BTCC title.
"I’m delighted to be back on the top step – it’s been a barren few weekends for me!" said Turkington. "There’s no feeling like winning. Team BMW gave me a great car yesterday for qualifying that’s the key for any BTCC weekend, starting at the front and trying to convert that. This has always been a good hunting ground for the 3 Series, and it just continues on!"
This success was made even sweeter as the Northern Irishman also secured the 100th win for the legendary West Surrey Racing outfit, with the team having first entered the UK's premier motorsport series way back in 1996.
"It was fantastic for Colin to win, but also to get WSR’s hundredth win and BMW and WSR’s 75th win together," beamed Team Principal Dick Bennetts. "Our first win was with Will Hoy back in 1998 so this is a great achievement for everyone in the team."
Senna Proctor and Josh Cook scored a podium double for BTC Racing as the team's Honda Civic Type Rs continue to impress around the tight and twisty Fife circuit.
Cook's bid for silverware was hard fought after he eventually got the better of the Draper Tools-backed EXCELR8 Hyundai of Chris Smiley with a fantastic move.
Worryingly for Cook, championship leader Ash Sutton also slipped by Smiley as part of the same battle and looked to hound his good friend in the latter stages of the contest.
Cook held on but Sutton's fourth place finish in the ballast-laden Laser Tools Racing Infiniti still represented an impressive result for the reigning champ – particularly with soft Goodyear rubber still to be used later in the day.
Smiley had to settle for fifth from MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square's Jake Hill, whilst local light Aiden Moffat delivered a seventh place finish in front of his home fans.
Gordon Shedden (Halfords Racing with Cataclean) and Rory Butcher (Toyota Gazoo Racing UK) completed a Scottish trio behind Moffat, whilst Ginsters EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com's Tom Ingram rounded out the top ten.
Ingram had kept Butcher at bay for almost the entire contest, but with the odd tap along the way the latter eventually made a move stick with just two laps remaining.
Race 2 is scheduled to take place at 1440 with the action being broadcast live throughout the day on ITV4.
2021 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Race 1 – Knockhill
1 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW 27 laps
2 Senna PROCTOR(GBR) BTC Racing +4.254s
3 Josh COOK (GBR) BTC Racing +8.076s
4 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +8.643s
5 Chris SMILEY (GBR) Ginsters EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com +12.071s
6 Jake HILL (GBR) MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square +13.061s
7 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +13.111s
8 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Racing with Cataclean +16.273s
9 Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Toyota Gazoo Racing UK +25.848s
10 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Ginsters EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com +27.688s
11 Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team BMW +27.899s
12 Tom CHILTON (GBR) Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport +28.167s
13 Adam MORGAN (GBR) Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport +28.487s
14 Jason PLATO (GBR) Adrian Flux with Power Maxed Racing +29.759s
15 Daniel ROWBOTTOM (GBR) Halfords Racing with Cataclean +30.167s
16 Jack GOFF (GBR) Team HARD. with Autobrite Direct +30.727s
17 Sam SMELT (GBR) Toyota Gazoo Racing UK +32.558s
18 Carl BOARDLEY (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +33.619s
19 Sam OSBORNE (GBR) Racing with Wera & Photon Group +34.705s
20 Jack BUTEL (GBR) EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com +35.693s
21 Rick PARFITT (GBR) EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com +38.341s
22 Jack MITCHELL (GBR) Team HARD. with Autobrite Direct +38.665s
23 Paul RIVETT (GBR) Racing with Wera & Photon Group +39.317s
24 Nicolas HAMILTON (GBR) ROKiT Racing with iQuoto Online Trading +39.869s
25 Árón TAYLOR-SMITH (IRL) Team HARD. with HUB Financial Solutions +41.021s
26 Jade EDWARDS (GBR) PHSC with BTC Racing +1 lap
27 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square +5 laps
28 Tom OLIPHANT (GBR) Team BMW +6 laps
29 Daniel LLOYD (GBR) Adrian Flux with Power Maxed Racing +24 laps
