Colin Turkington fought hard to claim a third race one victory in as many Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship meetings after a round 16 battle with Gordon Shedden at Snetterton.
The Silverline Subaru Team BMR driver was made to work for it by pole-sitter Shedden however, after the Halfords Yuasa Racing Honda Civic maintained his lead when the lights went out.
Defending grimly at the head of the field, Shedden came under more intense pressure in the second half of the race from the Levorg of Turkington, which finally squeezed inside the Honda coming through the Agostinis hairpin on lap eight.
The pair rubbed door panels heading into Hamiltons, Turkington emerging ahead to claim a lead he would never lose on his way to a third victory of the season.
Reigning BTCC champion Shedden fended off the Motorbase Performance Ford Focus ST of Mat Jackson for second however, the latter earning silverware on the Kent team’s 300th BTCC race ahead of Adam Morgan‘s Mercedes.
Jason Plato made a bold move around the outside at Agostinis stick on Tom Ingram late in the race for fifth place, Sam Tordoff scoring yet more valuable points by climbing to seventh from 10th on the grid for West Surrey Racing.
Tordoff finished ahead of fellow championship rival, Matt Neal (Honda), while Warren Scott and James Cole made it four Subaru Levorgs in the top 10 in ninth and 10th respectively.
Both Triple Eight MGs were out of luck in the opening 12-lapper of the day, Josh Cook and Ashley Sutton suffering from similar punctures that put them out of contention.
After suffering from the disappointment of starting from the back following power steering problems on Saturday, Andrew Jordan was spun through the grass heading into Hamiltons on lap one. A strong recovery drive saw him climb to 14th overall, Rob Collard failing to score points in 16th.
