Adam Morgan celebrated victory in race three of the 2016 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch after holding off a near race-long threat from the West Surrey Racing duo of Sam Tordoff and Jack Goff.
Morgan’s win made it three different winners on the opening day of the BTCC season but the WIX Racing driver was forced to work extremely hard throughout the contest. He started the race on the attack getting a good getaway and slotting in behind pole-sitter Tordoff.
Running the soft Dunlop SportMaxx tyre, the Mercedes of Morgan was crawling all over the back of the fast-starting BMW after just one lap. Morgan immediately eyed his opportunity and darted past on the run down to Paddock Hill Bend.
The action behind the lead trio was also fast and furious, which included slight contact between the two Motorbase Performance Fords. Andrew Jordan recovered after a wild slide and while team-mate Mat Jackson continued for the next few laps, he was eventually forced into the pits with a puncture.
The safety car was called after Kelvin Fletcher’s Chevrolet and Mark Howard’s VW visited the gravel traps in separate incidents, but the drama soon returned.
Both Hondas of Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden squeezed by Aron Smith’s VW on lap seven, but reigning champion Shedden would face a disappointing finish. His Civic Type R was already fading down the order before a puncture sent him off and into retirement at Paddock Hill Bend.
Neal couldn’t hold on to fourth, however, as the recovering Jordan dragged his Focus alongside as they crossed the finish line. Jordan got the nod by just 0.037s as WSR’s Collard looked on behind in sixth.
The Jordan/Neal battle wasn’t closest scrap of the finishers, however, as Jeff Smith went side-by-side with Aron Smith and took seventh by an incredible 0.003s. Laser Tools Racing’s Aiden Moffat took ninth, whilst Ashley Sutton recovered to take tenth despite getting bogged down off the line and dropping way down the order.
The final laps were the rostrum positions can be described as tense with the BMWs of Tordoff and Goff hauling their machines onto the back of Morgan’s Mercedes. The WIX Racing man kept his powder dry, however, and saw off several attacks to take the win.
