Team BMW's Colin Turkington bounced back from race two disappointment to produce a brilliant drive in the final encounter at Donington Park, claiming a commanding victory – the 60th of his illustrious BTCC career.
The memory of an uncharacteristic spin for the four-time champion in the second bout was immediately banished in the finale, as Turkington's dominant triumph draws him level with the legendary Andy Rouse in the all-time winners' list.
MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square's Jake Hill – along with Turkington – kept his title hopes alive with second place, whilst Laser Tools Racing's Aiden Moffat completed the podium – the Scotsman continuing his impressive run in the second half of the season.
Fourth place for Toyota Gazoo Racing UK's Rory Butcher secured yet more solid points for the Speedworks Motorsport-run squad, whilst BTC Racing's Josh Cook remains in mathematical championship contention following a fifth-place finish.
Halfords Racing with Cataclean's Dan Rowbottom and Adrian Flux with Power Maxed Racing's Dan Lloyd both recovered from startline penalty infringements to finish sixth and seventh respectively.
Championship leader Ash Sutton kept up his run of consistent results to take eighth – maintaining a 32-point advantage to Turkington in the standings – whilst Team BMW's Stephen Jelley and Ginsters EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com's Tom Ingram rounded out the top ten.
Colin Turkington said: "The emotion of winning never gets any less. And when you get to this stage of the season, it all means so much more – the pressure’s on, and starting on pole is no guarantee of winning the race, or even finishing on the podium.
"The guys around me didn’t have much weight in the car either so I knew the start would be important, but the key message is to thank the team for keeping my chin up after race two. They could see I was trying, giving it everything, and sometimes these things happen. I took too much inside kerb and the rest is history, but to turn that into a win and fastest lap... I might have scored more points with this turnout than had I finished fourth and maybe been at the back end of the top ten.
"So, I much prefer to win the race. My car was superb in that race. The 3 Series has just been blistering around here the past three years. I’ve won every time so big credit to Team BMW.
"I can easily think back to 2014, I think I went into [the final weekend] 49 points ahead of Jason [Plato] and I wasn’t resting easy. You can see it today, big swings in points can happen. The main job was to come out of Donington with a chance, and we’ve got a chance. Credit to Ash [Sutton] he’s been superb all year and kept scoring points. But we’re hot on his heels and there’s a lot of people chasing him down, me probably being the keenest one!"
Jake Hill said: "The weekend would’ve gone a bit better if we hadn’t had that drama with Adam [Morgan], but it is what it is. We came back again and got a second, so I’m thrilled with that! The lead of the championship is stretching big time to Ash, but at least we can still fight for second in the championship. We’ve just got to keep going and keep headstrong for going into my home race at Brands.
"You never know what can happen, it’s the BTCC after all, isn’t it! But if there’s one place I’d like to finish, it’s Brands Hatch GP. It’s my baby and I’ve got a good feeling about that one. Who knows, anything can happen. The fight is still on and it’s nice to be in the championship hunt. We’ll try and get a strong result out of it."
Aiden Moffat said: "It was an unhappy Saturday evening after qualifying 21st, but I think it’s really where we’ve got to this year. We’ve got the confidence and the outright pace. You learn it so much from Ash: when it goes bad you turn it around and keep fighting.
"I’ve got that confidence this year with a lot of the work I’ve done with the Laser Tools Racing team. We knew we could fight back. We changed the car a bit and came back strong, so it’s great to be on the podium again."
2021 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Race 3 – Donington Park
1 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW 18 laps
2 Jake HILL (GBR) MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square +4.096s
3 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +4.945s
4 Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Toyota Gazoo Racing UK +7.401s
5 Josh COOK (GBR) BTC Racing +7.752s
6 Daniel ROWBOTTOM (GBR) Halfords Racing with Cataclean +11.136s
7 Daniel LLOYD (GBR) Adrian Flux with Power Maxed Racing +13.260s
8 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +13.594s
9 Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team BMW +18.258s
10 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Ginsters EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com +18.258s
11 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square +19.615s
12 Árón TAYLOR-SMITH (IRL) Team HARD. with HUB Financial Solutions +20.201s
13 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Racing with Cataclean +22.557s
14 Jack GOFF (GBR) Team HARD. with Autobrite Direct +24.079s
15 Jason PLATO (GBR) Adrian Flux with Power Maxed Racing +24.251s
16 Chris SMILEY (GBR) Ginsters EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com +25.309s
17 Carl BOARDLEY (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +25.679s
18 Tom CHILTON (GBR) Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport +25.887s
19 Sam OSBORNE (GBR) Racing with Wera & Photon Group +26.533s
20 Tom OLIPHANT (GBR) Team BMW +27.104s
21 Rick PARFITT (GBR) EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com +29.252s
22 Jack MITCHELL (GBR) Team HARD. with Autobrite Direct +29.928s
23 Andy NEATE (GBR) Racing with Wera & Photon Group +33.338s
24 Nicolas HAMILTON (GBR) ROKiT Racing with iQuoto Online Trading +41.519s
25 Adam MORGAN (GBR) Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport +47.549s
26 Jade EDWARDS (GBR) PHSC with BTC Racing +2 laps
27 Senna PROCTOR(GBR) BTC Racing +6 laps
28 Sam SMELT (GBR) Toyota Gazoo Racing UK +18 laps
29 Jack BUTEL (GBR) EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com +18 laps
