Toyota Gazoo Racing UK’s Rory Butcher won the third Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship race of the day on the Donington Park Grand Prix circuit, but only after Dan Lloyd spun out of the lead on the final lap.

Lloyd had led the entire contest from reverse grid pole, and held a lead of 0.4 seconds heading onto the final lap, but his race was ruined exiting McLeans on the final tour, as an apparent failure saw the Cupra Leon swerve off the road into the gravel at Coppice.

That handed Butcher, who had applied big pressure to Lloyd in the final half of the race having started fifth on the grid, his first win of the season, 0.357s clear of CarStore Power Maxed Racing’s Aron Taylor-Smith, while Team BMW’s Adam Morgan claimed his first podium of the weekend with third.

Ricky Collard completed a good race for Toyota with fourth from seventh on the grid, ahead of championship leader Ash Sutton, who extended his margin at the top once more with fifth from 11th after forcing his way past his championship rivals in the second half of the contest.

Turkington took sixth for Team BMW, ahead of race two winner Ingram, who bounced up and down the order in his Hyundai i30N, after starting 12th.

Jake Hill was eighth in his BMW 330e M Sport, despite clouting a tyre stack at the Fogarty Esses, the resulting debris necessitating a safety car halfway through. 

Sam Osborne (Ford) and Stephen Jelley (BMW) completed the top-10. 

It looked as if Lloyd was set to claim Team HARD's second win in the BTCC, and led by 3.3s before the safety car was deployed.

Afterwards, he had a real right on his hands as Butcher looked to challenge on several occasions, including an attempt around the outside of the Melbourne Hairpin on the penultimate lap. But just as the win looked in the bag, his Cupra Leon looked unsteady exiting Coppice, and then pitched into the gravel as he battled for control. 

All that meant Butcher took his 11th career BTCC victory as the first event for the series on the GP circuit since 2002 came to a dramatic conclusion. 

Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship, Donington Park GP race three result:
1. Rory Butcher, Toyota Gazoo Racing UK, Toyota Corolla GR Sport, 15 laps
2. Aron Taylor-Smith, CarStore Power Maxed Racing, Vauxhall Astra, +0.357s
3. Adam Morgan, Team BMW, BMW 330e M Sport, +0.637s
4. Ricky Collard, Toyota Gazoo Racing UK, Toyota Corolla GR Sport, +1.750s
5. Ashley Sutton, NAPA Racing UK, Ford Focus ST, +2.621s
6. Colin Turkington, Team BMW, BMW 330e M Sport, +3.338s
7. Tom Ingram, Bristol Street Motors with Excelr8, Hyundai i30N, +4.004s
8. Jake Hill, Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport, BMW 330e M Sport, +6.236s
9. Sam Osborne, NAPA Racing UK, Ford Focus ST, +7.496s
10. Stephen Jelley, Team BMW, BMW 330e M Sport, +7.801s

There's plenty more racing to come at Donington Park before the end of the season, with highlights including next weekend's Caterham Festival, Vaux Valves on 24 September, Bennetts British Superbikes on 29 September - 1 October, and the final round of the Intelligent Money British GT Championship on 21-22 October. Click here for full information.