Tom Ingram claimed victory in the opening Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship encounter at Silverstone after MG's Ash Sutton and Josh Cook were disqualified for a technical infringement post-race.
Both MG Racing RCIB Insurance drivers had to fightback from minor setbacks off the line with Sutton losing P1 to Ingram and Cook being demoted down to fourth by Andrew Jordan's Pirtek Racing Ford Focus.
Adam Morgan's Mercedes and Rob Austin's Toyota traded places during the early running too, as battles kicked off all the way down the order. This was highlighted particularly by three championship contenders fighting for positions outside of the points with Sam Tordoff, Rob Collard and Mat Jackson swapping paint for much of the contest.
Cook and Jordan touched through the complex on lap four and the MG6 was back through into third, and he immediately set about hauling his machine to the front-running duo.
Sutton was by Ingram for the lead at the start of lap eight and Cook was soon joining them in the scrap. Cook got into Ingram's Speedworks Toyota at Maggott's four tours later and despite a valiant defence it was the MG pairing that assumed control for the remainder of the race.
Post-race, however, both MG6s were disqualified for a technical infringement due to their the rear wings being outside of the allowed tolerance. This hands victory to Ingram, whilst both Sutton and Cook will now start the second race from the back of the grid. MG Racing RCIB Insurance have appealed the decision relating to Cook's car, but this will be heard after the conclusion of the event.
"We worked hard for this one," said Sutton prior to the disqualification. "To top race one I’m absolutely over the moon. Tom (Ingram) got a great start and broke out a bit of a gap. ‘I’ll settle for the minute,’ I thought. Then I saw an opportunity, a car width gap beside Tom, big enough for my MG. There was a little bit of contact but nothing unfair. Down to turn one we were side by side but I came out on top. We’ve got to continue the momentum."
"We had it under control but I knew the MG boys would be coming for us," claimed Ingram. "I wasn’t quite able to hold off the attack. The move was there for Ash (Sutton). It was a strong move and he saw the opportunity and took it. It was robust by Josh (Cook) too. He’ll see it his way and I’ll see it mine. We’ll both disagree on it. I’ve probably got a really mardy face on but I am really pleased with being back on our pace and back at the sharp end. I’m over the moon really."
Jordan held on to a lonely fourth ahead of Austin and Morgan, who had both enjoyed an eye catching battle throughout the 22 laps of racing. Due to the aforementioned MG decision this later became second, third and fourth in the final classification.
Jake Hill fended off the attentions from a gaggle of contenders, including Honda's multiple champions in Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden. Incredibly both Honda Civic Type Rs suffered punctures late on – Neal's following contact with Aiden Moffat's Mercedes – and Hill was eventually able to secure fifth for the Team HARD-run squad.
BKR's Aron Smith claimed sixth ahead of two stellar drivers from a couple of BTCC's big guns. Rob Collard took seventh after scything his way BMW 125i M Sport through from 25th on the grid, whilst Colin Turkington blazed a trail from the rear of the field to grab eighth for Silverline Subaru BMR Racing.
Championship leader Sam Tordoff scored a few points to maintain his championship lead from Neal and Shedden respectively.
2016 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Round 25 – Silverstone:
1 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport 21m49.891s (99.18 mph)
2 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) Motorbase Performance +3.478s
3 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) Handy Motorsport +7.464s
4 Adam MORGAN (GBR) WIX Racing +10.121s
5 Jake HILL (GBR) RCIB Insurance Racing +16.570s
6 Aron SMITH (IRL) BKR +18.131s
7 Robert COLLARD (GBR) Team JCT600 Racing with GardX +18.307s
8 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +18.431s
9 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +18.554s
10 Jason PLATO (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +18.785s
11 Sam TORDOFF (GBR) Team JCT600 Racing with GardX +19.928s
12 Jack GOFF (GBR) Team IHG Rewards Club +20.135s
13 Hunter ABBOTT (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +20.139s
14 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmD Tuning.com +22.960s
15 Jeff SMITH (GBR) Eurotech Racing +23.520s
16 Mark HOWARD (GBR) BKR +29.944s
17 Mat JACKSON (GBR) Motorbase Performance +31.346s
18 Michael EPPS (GBR) RCIB Insurance Racing +39.350s
19 Stewart LINES (GBR) Maximum Motorsport +52.021s
20 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +56.575s
21 Dan WELCH (GBR) Goodestone Racing +1 lap
22 Kelvin FLETCHER (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +1 lap
23 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +1 lap
DNF Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +1 lap
DNF Warren SCOTT (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +2 laps
DNF James COLE (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +2 laps
DNF Martin DEPPER (GBR) Eurotech Racing +3 laps
NC Tony GILHAM (GBR) TLC/RCIB Insurance Racing +8 laps
NC Alex MARTIN (GBR) Dextra Racing +17 laps
EX Ash SUTTON (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance
EX Josh COOK (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance
