Reigning champion Gordon Shedden won the opening Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship race at Donington Park after a controlled lights-to-flag victory.

Shedden was kept honest throughout by fellow Honda Civic racer Andrew Jordan, with the gap rarely rising above the one second mark. Jordon closed in during the latter stages but Shedden hung on to win for Honda Yuasa Racing by 0.426s.

We managed the gap, kept it sensible and brought the car home for a good win, said Shedden. Its a great way to start the day and let's hope there's more to come later this afternoon.

Jordan was equally pleased with his own performance, knowing that his Honda carried significant ballast in the opening contest. The car was really good," he said. "When you consider that Gordon wasnt carrying any extra weight, which he will be for race two, then it was a really good result.

In a similarly poised battle, Matt Neal claimed a podium ahead of the MG of Jason Plato. The duo made relatively light work of getting by front row starter Frank Wrathall in the opening laps and pulled away together for a podium duel. Plato remained close throughout, but never drew close enough to make a significant move.

Adam Morgan impressed yet again in his Ciceley Racing Toyota Avensis after coming out on top in a battle with Wrathall and MG KX Momentum's Sam Tordoff. The trio fought hard for position and when Wrathall and Tordoff made contact shortly after the mid-distance stage of the race, Morgan eyed his opportunity to nip by. Toyota's top performer didn't need a second invitation and he went on to claim fifth, along with setting a new BTCC lap record at Donington Park. Such was the pace of the race that the top six drivers all broke Matt Neal's existing lap record dating back to 2011, but it was Morgan who set the benchmark to earn a bonus championship point.

Tordoff made it back on the track after a trip through the grass during his battle with Wrathall and immediately set about hunting down his Toyota rival once more. His quest proved fruitful late on when he nipped by Wrathall at the final chicane.

Wrathall had to settle for seventh at the finish, some way ahead of another battle between the eBay Motors BMW of Colin Turkington and Toyota Avensis of Dave Newsham.

Jeff Smith rounded out the top ten for Pirtek Racing after several pulsating battles down the order. His race started with minor contact with Tom Onslow-Coles VW Passat on the run down to the Craner Curves for the first time and a battle ensued for several laps. He made his move on the run down to Redgate on lap five and he also nipped by Rob Collards BMW 125i M Sport three tours later. Now up to 12th, Smith reeled in both Airwaves Racing cars late on. The soft tyre shod Ford Focus pair of Aron Smith and Mat Jackson began to run out of grip in the closing laps, and Jeff Smith was able to secure his place in top ten with two textbook manoeuvres.

Onslow-Cole finished in 13th after seeing off the attentions of Rob Austin's Audi A4 and Collard, who recovered from his own earlier off-track moment at the Old Hairpin.

James Kaye won the Jack Sears Trophy for cars running with S2000 machinery. The veteran racer brought his VW Golf home less than a second ahead of the Addison Lee Motorbase Ford Focus of Liam Griffin.

2013 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car ChampionshipDonington ParkRace 1

1 Gordon Shedden (Honda Yuasa Racing) +0.000 2 Andrew Jordan (Pirtek Racing) +0.426 3 Matt Neal (Honda Yuasa Racing) +4.751 4 Jason Plato (MG KX Momentum Racing)+6.535 5 Adam Morgan (Ciceley Racing) +8.759 6 Sam Tordoff (MG KX Momentum Racing) +9.200 7 Frank Wrathall (Dynojet) +10.247 8 Colin Turkington (eBay Motors) +11.079 9 Dave Newsham (Speedworks Motorsport) +13.020 10 Jeff Smith (Pirtek Racing) +20.187 11 Aron Smith (Airwaves Racing) +20.957 12 Mat Jackson (Airwaves Racing) +22.486 13 Tom Onslow-Cole (PPCGB.com / Kraftwerk Racing) +24.205 14 Rob Austin (WIX Racing) +27.799 15 Robert Collard (eBay Motors) +28.175 16 Ollie Jackson (Speedworks Motorsport) +29.699 17 Nick Foster (eBay Motors) +36.211 18 Jack Goff (RCIB Insurance Racing) +36.579 19 James Kaye (AmDTuning.com) +36.985 20 Liam Griffin (Addison Lee Motorbase) +37.900 21 Joe Girling (M247 Racing with Tech-Speed Motorsport) +45.665 22 James Cole (RCIB Insurance Racing) +46.862 23 David Nye (Welch Motorsport with Sopp + Sopp) +47.098 1:12.94824 Lea Wood (Wheel Heaven / Houseman Racing) +47.920 25 Will Bratt (WIX Racing) +58.161 26 Warren Scott (BMR Restart) +1:04.888