Tom Chilton mastered the wet conditions at Donington Park with the Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 racer sealing a first BTCC win since Croft in 2019 after a race which saw most off the grid gamble wrongly with slicks.
Those who put wet tyres on as a result surged through the field meaning some interesting names inside the top ten.
Adam Morgan looked potentially the one to benefit the most but it was Chilton who won that battle surging up the road and wasn’t caught as the Team BMW driver finished alongside rookie, Ronan Pearson for his maiden podium in his first weekend. Showing initial promise in qualifying yesterday, he reversed a poor start earlier today.
While down the grid, it was a feel good story as Nicolas Hamilton, with his father Anthony watching on in the garage finished seventh and ran up in the top five until he was caught for sixth spot in the final part of the race by rookie Mikey Doble.
There were also career bests for Sam Osborne in fourth as well as a debut weekend eight for Nick Halstead but all eyes will be on the likes of Ash Sutton, Jake Hill and Tom Ingram to see if they can carve their way through the field.
Race Three begins at 17:25 GMT and will see Dan Rowbottom go back onto pole after he sealed it in qualifying yesterday but failed to convert with Bobby Thompson on the front row alongside him.
