Adam Morgan charges to maiden Plato Racing victory
Adam Morgan clinched a historic first-ever race win for Plato Racing in the British Touring Car Championship after producing a sublime performance in a wet opening encounter at Knockhill.
The Mercedes-AMG A35 Saloon driver started from pole position and led every lap while his team-mate Dan Rowbottom followed him to home to record a maiden 1-2 finish for the squad. Completing the podium meanwhile in third was three-time champion Gordon Shedden.
Heavy rain made conditions a challenge from the get-go but with a clear road ahead of him, Morgan was unstoppable as he quickly established an early lead over the chasing pack in his front-wheel-drive machine.
Behind, Rowbottom initially sat behind Shedden in the opening exchanges but finally managed to wrestle second place from the Scotsman heading into turn one on lap four. Once through, he managed to pull clear of the Toyota driver.
Further down the order, championship leader Ash Sutton was one to watch as he made the best of the conditions to go from 11th to seventh on the opening lap. His charge would continue as the race wore on as he made the most of his Ford Focus Titanium’s superior front end.
Getting ahead of main rival Tom Ingram early doors, Sutton continued his march by dispatching both Charles Rainford and Ricky Collard in quick succession before then locking onto the rear of Shedden.
With just a handful of laps remaining, the race was neutralised courtesy of the safety car to allow Lewis Gilbert’s BMW to be recovered after contact was made with the Speedworks Motorsport Toyota of Josh Cook.
On the restart, Morgan and Rowbottom quickly bolted while Shedden, Sutton and Ingram ran line astern all the way to the chequered flag. Collard was sixth, narrowly ahead of the Power Maxed Racing trio of Dexter Patterson, Mikey Doble and Aiden Moffat.
Completing the top ten was Alliance Racing’s Sam Osborne. His team-mate Dan Cammish had finished inside top ten but was handed a time penalty for a false start, which dropped him to 18th at the finish.
Race two is scheduled to get underway 14:15.
