Turkington storms to first BTCC win of 2023

The four-time champion started the opening encounter from second on the grid and blasted past pole-sitter Dan Cammish on two occasions.

Turkington launched himself into the lead ahead of Cammish, but just as the as the leaders completed the opening lap, chaos ensued further down the order when contact between the NAPA Racing UK Ford of Dan Rowbottom and Team BMW’s Stephen Jelley caused a pit-straight pile-up.

Contact between Rowbottom and Jelley pitched Jelley’s BMW 330e M Sport into the pit-wall, which then speared back across the circuit following that impact.

Power Maxed Racing’s Andrew Watson and Jelley’s Team BMW stablemate Adam Morgan were also caught up in the accident, with the pair both ending the race on the side lines.

Following a lengthy delay as the marshals worked to recover the stricken cars and repair the damaged barrier, Turkington made a repeat of his sensational getaway to once again snatch the lead of the race away from pole-man Cammish.

Just as Turkington galloped into an early lead, Cammish fell down to fourth before recovering back up to third at the expense of MB Motorsport's Jake Hill.

Predictably, three-time champion Ash Sutton made the most of Cammish's poor start and leapt up to second before giving chase to the race leading BMW of Turkington.

Unlike Turkington on the soft tyre, Sutton chose to run the control tyre and slowly began to catch his long-time championship nemesis.

However, as the race progressed, Turkington established his authority to eventually take his 64th career BTCC win by 1.3s ahead of Sutton in second.

Cammish closed in on his Ford team mate during the closing stages of the race to consolidate his position on the podium in third, while Hill was a distant fourth ahead of defending champion Tom Ingram in fifth.

EXCELR8 Hyundai's Ingram battled from seventh and made a superb move on Toyota Gazoo Racing UK's Rory Butcher heading into Paddock Hill corner during the dying stages of the race.

Having held fifth for much of the race, Butcher eventually fell down to seventh behind Team HARD's Bobby Thompson in sixth.

One Motorsport's Josh Cook finished the opening race in eighth, ahead of Ricky Collard and Dan Lloyd in ninth and tenth