BTCC: Moffat, Ingram and Turkington winners at rainy Donington Park
Aiden Moffat, Tom Ingram and Colin Turkington are the race winners in three races of the second round of the 2017 British Touring Car Championship at Donington Park.
The 20-year-old Scottish driver Aiden Moffat has won the first race of the day with #16 Laser Tools Racing Mercedes-Benz A-Class, clinching his maiden BTCC victory in a career. For Tom Ingram, who was driving the #80 Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Avensis, it was his fourth BTCC win.
Another Scottish driver, the defending BTCC champion Gordon Shedden, was a provisional winner of the race 3 but he was excluded from race results after his #52 Honda Civic Type R failed post-race height test. It means that Turkington scored his first win of the season in the #4 BMW of West Surrey Racing and the 42nd BTCC win in a career.
Aiden Moffat scored his maiden BTCC victory at Donington Park
Maiden win for Aiden Moffat
In the opening race of the weekend, Aiden Moffat made a progress from the fourth place on the starting grid to take his first ever BTCC win. Rob Austin started from pole but lost a lead to Tom Ingram in the opening lap. Moffat overtook Jack Goff on lap 1 and then made a move to take P2 from Austin on lap 2.
The decisive move to P1 followed on lap 5, when Moffat’s Mercedes easily passed ballast-laden Ingram’s Toyota. Ingram would drop down in the order to P5, behind Matt Neal, Rob Austin and Colin Turkington.
Only 24 cars finished the race, of 32 which started. The hero of the race was Ashley Sutton in the #116 Subaru, who progressed from 31st place on the grid to 13th. Sutton was the fastest qualifyer but his car’s turbo overboost was later adjudged to have contravened technical regulations, so he was stripped of the results and moved to the back of the grid.
Tom Ingram scored his second win of the season
Second win of the season for Tom Ingram
In the second race of the day, Tom Ingram scored his fourth win of a career and the second of the season, after a victory in the opening round at Brands Hatch. Rob Collard crossed the finish line in the second place, 3.865 seconds behind Ingram. Ashley Sutton made a heroic progress once more, starting 13th and reaching a podium.
Pole-sitter Aiden Moffat had started well, pulling out on the chasing pack with two BMW drivers Rob Collard and Colin Turkington duelling against Rob Austin’s Avensis. Moffat’s Mercedes, carrying maximum ballast, began to lose a pace after four laps, losing a lead to Tom Ingram. Eventually, Moffat finished 14th.
Colin Turkington in the #4 BMW
Reigning champion excluded after the race
BTC Norlin Racing’s Dave Newsham finished 8th with #17 Chevrolet Cruze, earning a reverse grid pole position for Race 3. The race started under rainy conditions and lasted for just a half of the lap before it was red-flagged, after several cars were beached out in a gravel. The biggest victim of the first lap chaos was Matt Neal, who went off while leading. He wasn’t allowed to re-start because he received assistance to get out from gravel trap.
After a restart, Newsham was in the lead for four laps before Gordon Shedden passed him. Colin Turkington was the next to overtake Newsham. In the thrilling final-lap three-car battle, Adam Morgan jumped into third place ahead of Ashley Sutton and Dave Newsham.
Shedden’s win, however, wasn’t official as the Scot was subsequently excluded for having failed the ride-height check. His team appealed on the basis that it was caused by accident damage, but the final decision is – exclusion.
Check the full results of BTCC races at Donington Park
Photos: btcc.net,
