Colin Turkington leads home Subaru double podium at Oulton Park

Colin Turkington eased to victory in the opening race at Oulton Park to take the first BTCC win for the new Subaru Levorg Team BMR outfit, followed home by team-mate Jason Plato in third.

Having taken a stunning pole position on Saturday, Turkington kept the lead off the line and never looked back, putting in a perfect lights-to-flag drive to take the team’s first win of the season, and the first ever BTCC win for Subaru as a manufacturer.

Sam Tordoff, who started third, jumped Eurotech Racing’s Daniel Lloyd off the line and followed Turkington for the entire 15 lap race, with both drivers clearing off and having a quiet race at the front of the field.

The action behind was less quiet, however, with Lloyd trying his hardest to keep Team Dynamics’ Gordon Shedden and Plato at bay, but could not keep the pair, who have four Drivers’ Championships between them, behind him, falling down to sixth by the chequered flag.

Plato and Shedden battled for the second half of the race, with Shedden seemingly in defence mode, only succumbing to the Subaru’s constant pressure with just two laps to go at Old Hall corner, allowing Plato to take the final podium position ahead of the Honda with Speedworks Motorsport’s Tom Ingram rounding out the top five in his Toyota Avensis..

The most action of the race came down in the lower positions, with Aiden Moffat and Rob Austin going side-by-side for an entire lap, bunching the field up behind them and creating a near-10 car train.

There was yet more drama after the chequered flag, with Team BMR’s elation turning to concern as team boss Warren Scott pulled to the side of the circuit with smoke and a lick of flames seen coming out of the engine, bringing back a reminder of the fire in James Cole’s car at Donington Park, which culminated in the team withdrawing from the Thruxton weekend.