Colin Turkington made it two from two for BMR Racing at Donington Park with victory in the second Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship race of the day.
The reigning champion grabbed the lead instantly with a better getaway when the lights went out, the Volkswagen CC leaping from second on the grid ahead of Gordon Shedden‘s Yuasa Racing Honda Civic Type-R heading into Redgate for the first time.
A queue briefly formed behind the Northern Irishman and, on lap two, Shedden made his attentions known with a nudge into Redgate, Turkington holding on as Shedden drifted dangerously wide at Craner Curves. The Honda narrowly avoided an excursion, but slipped behind Andrew Jordan‘s MG which he made slight contact with while making his recovery.
A safety car interruption occurred when Alex Martin and Warren Scott crashed at Old Hairpin on lap three, after which Turkington comfortably extended his gap at the front of the field to claim his first win of the season by 2.5s, his first too for BMR Racing.
Shedden’s softer compound tyre choice soon turned against him as he fell down the order to an eventual 14th place, his Honda team-mate Matt Neal charging through the field to second place with zero penalty ballast.
Neal took advantage of a tight battle ahead of him initially, passing Jason Plato‘s BMR Racing Volkswagen on lap eight before dispatching Jack Goff when the MG was forced wide by Shedden at Redgate. The Scot let his team-mate through to attack Morgan, taking the place from the Mercedes driver and then swiftly moving ahead of Jordan’s MG despite slight contact with the Triple Eight driver prior to his move at the first corner.
Morgan finished on the podium ahead of Jordan and Plato, Rob Collard also involved for West Surrey Racing in a fierce scrap over third spot. Collard pipped the Power Maxed Racing Chevrolet Cruze of Josh Cook by a mere 0.009s, Goff next up ahead of the WSR BMWs of Sam Tordoff and Andy Priaulx.
Aron Smith charged from the back of the field to 12th place for BMR Racing, while Aiden Moffat and Simon Belcher both suffered excursions during the race.
The result of the grid draw for race three sees the top seven being reversed, putting rookie Cook on pole position for the final race of the day.
Race three gets underway at 5:17pm and you can keep up with the action here at www.thecheckeredflag.co.uk, or via Twitter at @tcfBTCC.
