Ingram beats Plato to secure race one win

Team Toyota GB's Tom Ingram has taken a third British Touring Car Championship race victory of the season after getting the better of Jason Plato during the Silverstone opener.

The Toyota Corolla driver started the opening race from fourth on the grid but rose to the lead as early as lap five after gaining a better exit out of Luffield to pass the Vauxhall Astra of Plato heading into Copse corner.

Ingram and Plato tackled the race with alternative tyre strategies with the Toyota runner opting to run the medium tyre, while two-time champion Plato used the softer compound.

It was a choice that paid dividends in the cooler conditions for Ingram as the Speedworks Motorsport prepared Corolla was able to assemble a 4.3s winning margin ahead of Plato by the end of the race.

Plato, in turn, enjoyed a similar margin back to the BTC Racing Honda of Chris Smiley in third, with Josh Cook following his team mate home in fourth position.

Tom Oliphant finished where he started in fifth position for Team BMW ahead of Honda duo Matt Neal and Mike Bushell in sixth and seventh.

Significantly, in terms of the championship outlook, BMW Pirtek Racing's Andrew Jordan took advantage of yet more misfortune for points leader Colin Turkington after finishing the opening race in eighth position.

Jordan has closed the gap to 4-points with five races to go after Turkington found himself facing the wrong way through Woodcote corner following an altercation with Rob Collard and Adam Morgan on lap eight.

The reigning three-time champion fell down to 25th following his dramatic spin but recovered back up the order in finish in 14th, scoring two valuable championship points in the process.

As a result, just eight points cover the top-three championship runners as Honda's Dan Cammish also closed the gap with an 11th place finish.