BTCC Brands Hatch: Ingram takes convincing win in season opener

The Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Avensis man passed surprise polesitter Jeff Smith (Eurotech Honda Civic) on the opening lap before the deployment of the safety car after Team Dynamics driver Matt Neal and Colin Turkington (WSR BMW 125i M Sport) collided on the start line.

Neal's Honda dropped down the sloped start line at Brands and hit the rear of Turkington's machine, spinning the BMW across the track.

On the restart, Ingram duly pulled away and powered to a 2.5-second winning advantage - a repeat of his victory in the opening round of the championship last year.

"The start was all important," said Ingram.

"I knew I had to push for a gap early on because Jeff was on softs and he would drop back.

"I got my head down and the car worked perfectly."

Reigning champion Gordon Shedden (Team Dynamics Honda Civic) chased Ingram home after working his way past Smith on lap six, and he was followed over the line by the Ciceley Racing Mercedes-Benz A-Class of Adam Morgan, who finished third.

Shedden said his race had not been without drama: "Adam was coming on strong at the end, and I had all kinds of warning lights going off on the dashboard of my car.

"That was just what I needed with Morgan closing, but we just held on."

Smith gradually dropped out of the lead picture and was forced to pit with a wheel problem on lap 15, but his team-mate Jack Goff upheld honour for the Eurotech team by claiming fourth place - having worked his way ahead of Rob Austin's Handy Motorsport Avensis on lap 18.

Austin held on to fifth spot ahead of Andrew Jordan (WSR BMW) and his team-mate Rob Collard.

Mat Jackson (Motorbase Ford Focus), the Team Hard Volkswagen CC of Mike Epps and Tom Chilton (Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall Astra) rounded out the top 10.

RESULT - 27 LAPS: