Adam Morgan claimed the ninth victory of his BTCC career and the first for the new Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport BMW 330i M Sport, as the Lancastrian led from start to finish in the final race at Brands Hatch.
Team HARD. with Autobrite Direct's Jack Goff – securing a maiden rostrum for the all-new Cupra – and Laser Tools Racing's Aiden Moffat completed the podium as the duo swapped positions twice during the contest.
With several of the BTCC's main contenders further down the grid and carrying significant success ballast, the reverse grid race was a relatively routine affair with Morgan, Goff and Moffat producing a hugely popular podium.
The trio was in need of a good result for their respective teams and duly delivered with faultless displays.
Jason Plato nearly dragged his Adrian Flux with Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall into the silverware-paying positions as he went side-by-side with Moffat's Infiniti across the start/finish line, but the Scotsman held on by just 0.012s.
The BTC Racing duo of Josh Cook and Senna Proctor were fifth and sixth respectively, ahead of championship leader Ash Sutton and Toyota Gazoo Racing UK's Rory Butcher.
Adrian Flux with Power Maxed Racing's Daniel Lloyd and Ginsters EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com's Chris Smiley rounded out the top ten.
Adam Morgan said: “It’s amazing. When we finished qualifying yesterday we were down in P21, and to start any Sunday in 21st, you know it’s going to be a very difficult challenge. We were very lucky with the reverse grid draw and from there it was just a case of managing the race. When Aiden got behind me, I thought he was going to be all over me, but I just kept my foot down and kept it nice and smooth.
"We’re making improvements everywhere we go and just a massive thank you to Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport. It’s our third race weekend and not only are we on the podium, we’ve got a race win for it.
“We’re itching to get to Oulton Park for the Goodyear tyre test. We had some testing early on in the season, but you’re on tracks that are ten degrees cooler, they have no rubber on them. So you can think you’ve got a good setup but then the race set-up’s just not quite right. Then you’re tweaking it through Free Practice and Qualifying. But we’re learning and progressing every time, so I think there’s a lot more to come.”
Jack Goff said: “One step at a time! It’s testament to all the boys and girls at Team HARD, a little bit of payback for all the hard work over winter building our brand-new Cupras and then rebuilding Glynn [Geddie’s] after Thruxton. It’s a small payback, but we’re not there yet. We want to be fighting for podiums in every race. We have scored points in every single race with the Cupra, so we can be proud of that, and the car’s very reliable which helps us progress it.
“We’re learning on the job, every time we go out. We haven’t been testing at all in season, so every time we go on the track we’re throwing things at the car. Thankfully it's very good on race day. We just don’t maximise the new tyres in qualifying, so we know where our weaknesses are, we just haven’t found the cure to them quite yet.”
Aiden Moffat said: “I was a bit nervous, but it was one of them really. I’m just delighted to get a podium again, it’s been a while! I’m getting to grips with this rear-wheel drive thing and it was a track I was dreading to be honest, I expected to struggle this weekend. I think two top tens and a podium finally rewards the team for all the hard work they’ve put in. It’s just great to reward them and be standing here again.
“We needed this; as a driver when you’ve not got that result you put extra pressure on yourself. Race one, I put a bit of pressure on myself because we were close again and it’s been so long. Then in race three, I was trying to go for it, not overthink it and just drive the car – 'what will be will be!' To get that out of the way, I'm now going to focus on getting back here sooner next time.”
2021 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Race 3 – Brands Hatch Indy
1 Adam MORGAN (GBR) Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport 24 laps
2 Jack GOFF (GBR) Team HARD. with Autobrite Direct +1.541s
3 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +3.807s
4 Jason PLATO (GBR) Adrian Flux with Power Maxed Racing +3.819s
5 Josh COOK (GBR) BTC Racing +4.448s
6 Senna PROCTOR (GBR) BTC Racing +4.874s
7 Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Toyota Gazoo Racing UK +5.343s
8 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +6.011s
9 Daniel LLOYD (GBR) Adrian Flux with Power Maxed Racing +6.375s
10 Chris SMILEY (GBR) Ginsters EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com +6.890s
11 Daniel ROWBOTTOM (GBR) Halfords Racing with Cataclean +7.204s
12 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Ginsters EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com +7.446s
13 Jake HILL (GBR) MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square +8.688s
14 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +9.299s
15 Tom OLIPHANT (GBR) Team BMW +9.937s
16 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Racing with Cataclean +10.141s
17 Árón TAYLOR-SMITH (IRL) Team HARD. with HUB Financial Solutions +12.633s
18 Tom CHILTON (GBR) Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport +14.169s
19 Carl BOARDLEY (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +14.431s
20 Sam OSBORNE (GBR) Racing with Wera & Photon Group +14.829s
21 Jack BUTEL (GBR) EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com +16.248s
22 Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team BMW +16.631s
23 Sam SMELT (GBR) Toyota Gazoo Racing UK +21.528s
24 Glynn GEDDIE (GBR) Team HARD. with Autobrite Direct +24.674s
25 Andy NEATE (GBR) Racing with Wera & Photon Group +27.805s
26 Rick PARFITT (GBR) EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com +28.456s
27 Jade EDWARDS (GBR) PHSC with BTC Racing +28.683s
28 Nicolas HAMILTON (GBR) ROKiT Racing with iQuoto Online Trading +2 laps
29 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square +14 laps
