Adam Morgan celebrated victory in race three of the 2016 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch after holding off a near race-long threat from the West Surrey Racing duo of Sam Tordoff and Jack Goff. Morgan's win made it three different winners on the opening day of the BTCC season, but the WIX Racing driver was forced to work extremely hard throughout this contest. He started the race on the attack after getting a good getaway and slotting in behind pole-sitter Tordoff. Running the soft Dunlop SportMaxx tyre, the Mercedes of Morgan was crawling all over the back of the fast-starting BMW after just one lap. Morgan immediately eyed his opportunity and darted past on the run down to Paddock Hill Bend. The action behind the lead trio was also fast and furious, which included slight contact between the two Motorbase Performance Fords. Andrew Jordan recovered after a wild slide and while team-mate Mat Jackson continued for the next few laps, he was eventually forced into the pit lane with a puncture. The safety car was called for after Kelvin Fletcher's Chevrolet and Mark Howard's VW visited the gravel in separate incidents, but the drama soon returned. Both Hondas of Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden squeezed by Aron Smith's VW on lap seven, but reigning champion Shedden would face a disappointing finish. His ballast-laden Civic Type R was already fading down the order before a puncture sent him off and into retirement at Paddock Hill Bend. Neal couldn't hold on to fourth, as the recovering Jordan dragged his Ford Focus alongside as they crossed the finish line. Jordan got the nod by just 0.037s as WSR's Collard looked on behind in sixth. The Jordan/Neal battle wasn't the closest scrap of the finishers, however, as Jeff Smith went side-by-side with Aron Smith and took seventh by an incredible 0.003s. Laser Tools Racing's Aiden Moffat took ninth, whilst Ashley Sutton recovered to take tenth despite getting bogged down off the line and dropping way down the order. The final laps for the rostrum positions can be described as tense with the BMWs of Tordoff and Goff hauling their machines onto the back of Morgan's Mercedes. The WIX Racing man kept his powder dry, however, and saw off several attacks to take the win. 2016 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Round 3 – Brands Hatch Indy: 1 Adam MORGAN (GBR) WIX Racing (27 laps) 23m49.834s 2 Sam TORDOFF (GBR) Team JCT600 Racing with GardX +0.136s 3 Jack GOFF (GBR) Team IHG Rewards Club +0.449s 4 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) Motorbase Performance +3.832s 5 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +3.869s 6 Robert COLLARD (GBR) Team JCT600 Racing with GardX +4.192s 7 Jeff SMITH (GBR) Eurotech Racing +4.195s 8 Aron SMITH (IRL) BKR +5.702s 9 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +6.391s 10 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +10.892s 11 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) Handy Motorsport +11.051s 12 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Subaru Team BMR +11.482s 13 Hunter ABBOTT (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +11.995s 14 Josh COOK (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +14.512s 15 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +15.098s 16 Jason PLATO (GBR) Subaru Team BMR +15.513s 17 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +15.640s 18 James COLE (GBR) Subaru Team BMR +16.124 19 Warren SCOTT (GBR) Subaru Team BMR +16.744s 20 Daniel WELCH (GBR) Goodstone Racing +17.406s 21 Michael EPPS (GBR) RCIB Insurance Racing +21.854s 22 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmD Tuning +22.302s 23 Jake HILL (GBR) RCIB Insurance Racing +23.947s 24 Martin DEPPER (GBR) Eurotech Racing +24.912s 25 Mat JACKSON (GBR) Motorbase Performance +27.308s 26 Andy NEATE (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +32.593s 27 Alex MARTIN (GBR) Dextra Racing +40.900s 28 Stewart LINES (GBR) Maximum Motorsport +45.226s 29 Chris SMILEY (GBR) TLC Racing +4 laps 30 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +7 laps 31 Kelvin FLETCHER (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +26 laps 32 Mark HOWARD (GBR) BKR DNS Click here for the full classification.