Photo: PSP Images

Tom Ingram scores first win of title defence

Stephen Jelley had started the race from pole in his BMW and led the opening lap, with Dan Rowbottom making a strong start to get ahead of Adam Morgan midway through lap one.

Rowbottom then made his move for the lead on lap two, slipping up the inside of the BMW heading onto the back straight to grab top spot.

Rowbottom was being followed through however by the Hyundai of defending champion Tom Ingram, who made up three spots on the opening lap before overhauling both Morgan and Jelley on lap two.

Once behind Rowbottom, Ingram heaped the pressure on his rival before diving down the inside into Riches on lap five to grab the lead.

Ingram quickly scampered away at the front as Rowbottom was forced to defend from the Toyota of Rory Butcher – which was the lead car on the soft tyre.

Rowbottom was then overhauled by soft shod team-mate Dan Cammish, who closed in on Butcher for P2 before taking the spot at Riches and then set off after Ingram at the front.

Closing in on the final lap, Cammish wasn’t able to make a move as Ingram took the flag for his first win of the year, with Cammish and Butcher following behind to round out the podium.

Rowbottom took fourth ahead of Ash Sutton, who held on well on the hard compound tyre to add more solid points to his earlier double win.

Josh Cook would be the star of the race with a stunning drive through the field from the back to sixth on the soft tyre, ahead of the BMWs of Jelley and Turkington, with Aiden Moffat grabbing ninth late on when he got ahead of the other two BMWs of Morgan and Jake Hill as they clashed at the hairpin.