The first wet race of the season brought drama from the outset and the closest race in recent BTCC history. After winning the first race of the day, Gordon Shedden started from pole position, but the wet track played into the hands of the rear-wheel drive cars on the grid. Starting from third, Colin Turkington propelled his Team RAC 3 Series into the lead, and was almost followed by Mat Jackson from the third row, but he could not quite get around the outside of Fabrizio Giovnardi’s Vectra. The leaders made it through Old Hall with Turkington leading from Giovanardi and Jackson.

Unfortunately, some of those further down the grid did not make it through the Old Hall corner at all. David Pinkney’s Alfa Romeo 156 connected with Simon Blanckley’s Honda Integra, before collecting Erkut Kizilirmak’s Astra Sport Hatch. Jason Hughes was also caught up in it in his MG ZS. All four cars ended up in the tyre barrier on the outside of the corner, with Pinkney and Hughes suffering very heavy impacts.

Unsurprisingly, the safety car picked up the pack at the end of the first lap, but not before a couple of the frontrunners had met their match. Tom Onslow-Cole ran off the track at Cascades and Gordon Shedden hit the tyre barrier at Hilltop, both retiring from the race.

After his first race crash, Motorbase Performance driver Matt Allison opted to start from the pitlane rather than pick his way through any first corner shenanigans…an inspired decision! He was up to 12th position by the end of the opening lap.

The safety car was on track for five laps as the stricken cars were recovered from around the circuit. It was always possible that the restart would catch someone out, with tyres dropping well below their optimum operating temperature. It was Gareth Howell who carried a little bit too much pace through Old Hall, putting a wheel wide and unable to keep the car on the track, careering into the tyres on the outside and bringing the safety car out again.

Another couple of laps later and another restart – this time without incident. Colin Turkington continued to lead from Giovanardi and Neal, ahead of Mike Jordan and Mat Jackson. Further down the order, there was a big moment for Tom Chilton, who ran off the track, but managed to rejoin. Mat Jackson also suffered, running wide at the Island hairpin. Almost at the same moment, Mike Jordan managed to find a way past Matt Neal to move up to third.

The last couple of laps were all about the battle for the lead. Giovanardi’s Vectra was clearly quick, but Turkington managed to make his BMW very wide. The Italian tried a number of different moves, but the closest he got was at the final corner, where he moved to the inside line, before attempting to out-drag Turkington to the line. The Ulsterman crossed the line with an advantage of just 0.046 seconds. Mike Jordan was third, making his third appearance on the podium this year. Neal finished fourth, ahead of Plato and Jackson. Darren Turner finished seventh for SEAT Sport UK, Adam Jones was eighth for Team Air Cool, while Tom Chilton and Matt Allison completed the top ten.