BTCC: Morgan wins opening race of Donington Park weekend

Adam Morgan took victory in the opening race of the weekend at Donington Park on the Grand Prix loop continuing good form for Mercedes.

Morgan started on pole position ahead of teammate Daniel Rowbottom while Josh Cook and Ash Sutton lined-up on the second row ahead of Dan Cammish and Gordon Shedden.

Morgan would get a better start than his teammate who would have to defend hard against Cook and Sutton who manage to pull through at Redgate. Rowbottom would manage to make a lunge later on in the lap at the Melbourne Hairpin to regain third place from Sutton temporarily as the Ford got the better drive out the corner to edge ahead before a Safety Car would be deployed for Lewis Gilbert who went onto the grass and into the air, flipping multiple times. Fortunately, he walked away and was cleared at the medical centre.

The green flag would drop again on lap five with Cook having to defend from Sutton into the old hairpin, keeping hold of the position while Morgan escaped up the road. Meanwhile, Tom Ingram would have to defend from Ricky Collard for eighth place with the two-time champion managing to defend before another Safety Car would be deployed for a stranded Tom Chilton whose cars cut out earlier in the lap. Chilton would manage to get going again so the safety car would only be brief.

Morgan would once again defend from Cook and Sutton at the restart while Rowbottom would loom in the mirrors of Sutton as they went onto lap eight. Further back, Ingram and Collard would continue their fight over eighth place with contact between the two sends Collard across the gravel at the Fogarty Esses, but he manages to maintain eighth place.

Sutton would continue to have to defend from Rowbottom all while Shedden moved up to fifth place passing Cammish. Suddenly, Cook would have a gear issue on lap eleven with the gear lever coming off dropping him down the field and out of the race. Now fighting over second, Sutton would fight with Rowbottom and would be joined by Shedden in his hunt for the podium.

On lap fifthteen, Shedden would begin to setup Rowbottom at the Melbourne Hairpin, forcing him to take a defensive line through there and into Goddards. Piling the pressure on Rowbottom, he would get a better run through the Craner Curves before diving it up the inside into the Old Hairpin to take the final podium spot.

Out front, Morgan would take victory for the second time this season ahead of Sutton and Shedden. In a last lap dive, Cammish would make a move on Rowbottom at the Melbourne Hairpin to claim fourth while Rowbottom would have to settle for fifth. Árón Taylor-Smith would finish sixth ahead of Dexter Patterson and Collard while Ingram and Mikey Doble would complete the top ten.