Adam Morgan picked up Ciceley Motorsport’s first win of the 2018 British Touring Car Championship at Donington Park after starting fifth on the grid.
Morgan moved up to fourth off the line and picked off Josh Cook and pole sitter Rory Butcher on the opening lap, moving up to second behind Ashley Sutton as the safety car was brought out to clear a multi-car accident further down the order.
Sam Tordoff ran onto the grass while battling at the back end of the top 10 and was sent spinning back onto the track, collecting a number of cars, while others ran into one another as they tried to avoid the Ford.
Josh Price, Brett Smith, James Cole, and Tordoff were all forced to retire on the spot while Senna Proctor – who had been hit by a spinning Mike Bushell – was able to limp back to the pits. A number of other cars were able to continue with damage including Ciceley Motorsport’s Tom Oliphant, although Oliphant was forced to pit to tape up loose bodywork.
Sutton held onto the lead on the restart but Morgan was all over the back of the Subaru. He eventually managed to find a way past the reigning champion to take the race lead.
Further back, Josh Cook was battling Butcher for the final spot on the podium. Butcher defended well but Cook managed to make his way past. The race one winner quickly passed Sutton and began to challenge Morgan for the race win.
Cook pushed hard in search of his second win of the weekend, flashing his lights in an attempt to distract the Mercedes driver, but Morgan held firm to take the win, finishing 0.368s ahead.
Aiden Moffat finished third after a storming drive from 15th on the grid as Butcher and Sutton fell backwards in the closing stages of the race.
Dan Cammish looked set for another strong finish. The Honda driver managed to follow Chris Smiley past Butcher when the pole sitter ran wide, moving into fifth. He continued to challenge Smiley, but the pair came together and Cammish was sent onto the grass with a puncture, bringing his race to an early end. Smiley also dropped down the order after coming into the pits due to the damage.
The BMWs of Rob Collard and Andrew Jordan picked up fourth and fifth ahead of Sutton and Matt Neal.
Race two winner Tom Ingram took eighth with Tom Chilton and Jake Hill rounding out the top 10.
