Andrew Jordan secured the first Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship win for the new BMW 3 Series in its first race weekend – but Honda Civic Type R driver Josh Cook left Brands Hatch leading the points after a superb victory in the opening race.
Rory Butcher claimed glory in the final race of the day, after on-the-road victor Tom Chilton (Ford Focus RS) was penalised for contact with a rival.
Former champion Ash Sutton started the opening race of the day at the 1.2-mile Kent track from pole position in his BMR Racing Subaru Levorg and, along with the eight drivers behind him on the grid, opted for wet tyres on a damp track. Cook started tenth, and was the first driver to gamble on running dry slick tyres.
Sutton built a big early lead over Colin Turkington (Team BMW 3 Series), but once the track dried slightly the drivers on wets offered little opposition to their slick-shod rivals.
Cook charged up the order and easily took the lead, quickly building a huge gap. Jake Hill fought his way to second in his Trade Price Racing Audi S3 ahead of Chilton. Sutton fell to ninth, with Jordan finishing 15th after also struggling on wets.
BTCC EXCLUSIVE | VIDEO: Race 1 in 60 seconds #BTCC Live on ITV4 now pic.twitter.com/C1qatvqPXQ
— BTCC (@BTCC) April 7, 2019
The track was again slightly damp for the start of the second race, but all 30 drivers chose slicks. Cook built an early lead at the front, but Sutton charged up the order, and took the lead at mid-distance. But the Subaru man quickly found himself under pressure from the charging Jordan, who got past on lap 16 and pulled clear to secure the first win for the new 3 Series.
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Hopefully now more
Hopefully now more manufacturers will race proper saloon cars instead of boy racer hatchbacks :)
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Naw. The German car haters will be upset. Excuses incoming.