The new season of the British Touring Car Championship got underway this weekend on the Indy Circuit at Brands Hatch, with plenty of action throughout the maximum capacity, 32-car grid.

22-year-old Tom Ingram secured his first ever BTCC victory in Race 1 yesterday, although the Speedworks Motorsport driver had to retire from Race 2 after colliding with WSR’s Rob Collard.

Defending champion Gordon Shedden – who had finished second behind Ingram in Race 1 – took full advantage by leading home a Honda one-two, closely followed by Aron Smith in third.

Going into the third and final race it looked like Shedden’s dominance in the Honda garage would be rewarded with the championship lead, although it wasn’t to be after a puncture forced him into the wall having been running in 11th place.

As Adam Morgan gave WIX Racing their first win of the new season, Matt Neal’s fifth place finish was enough to claim the championship lead after one event.

Subaru – making their BTCC debut – had a low-key weekend as their quartet of drivers struggled to reach the point-scoring positions. The best Team BMR could manage was 12th in Race 3, via 2009 and 2014 champion Colin Turkington.

The next three races will take place at Donington Park on 17 April.

The top ten after one event

1. Matt Neal (Halfords Yuasa Racing) 42 points

2. Gordon Shedden (Halfords Yuasa Racing) 38 points

3. Adam Morgan (WIX Racing) 37 points

4. Aron Smith (BKR) 32 points

5. Andrew Jordan (Pirtek Racing) 32 points

6. Jack Goff (Team IHG Rewards Club) 31 points

7. Ashley Sutton (MG RCIB Insurance Racing) 29 points

8. Sam Tordoff (Team JCT600 with GardX) 24 points

9. Tom Ingram (Speedworks Motorsport) 23 points

10. Rob Collard (Team JCT600 with GardX) 20 points