Adam Morgan won his second Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship race of the day, and third across two events, with an imperious display in the third and final contest at Donington Park this afternoon (Sunday). The CPRL Mercedes crossed the line almost three seconds of the next car following a commanding display.

Chris Smiley started from pole position on the reversed grid, and took the lead initially, but the rapid Mercedes of Morgan quickly loomed large behind from second on the grid. After holding position on the opening tour, Morgan attacked Smiley through the opening corners of the second lap to move into a lead he would never look like losing.

For Smiley, it was the start of a downward spiral in the race, with Aiden Moffat’s Audi following Morgan through before the Restart Hyundai went wide at Melbourne and dropped further still down the order to fifth.

This left Moffat and Dexter Patterson in another of the Power Maxed run Audis as Morgan’s nearest competitors, but the Mercedes continued to streak away at the front, lapping much faster than those behind. Tom Ingram briefly made his way up to fourth, the Team VERTU driver aiming to reduce his points deficit to Ash Sutton. But he and his title rival made contact at the Old Hairpin on lap three, allowing Smiley to sneak through.

This put Smiley fifth, in the wake of Aron Taylor-Smith’s Toyota which had also worked its way into a strong position. Ingram was the big loser from this, falling to the fringes of the top 10, but Sutton soon followed him as Ricky Collard and Gordon Shedden both passed him, leaving Sutton right ahead of Ingram. But the smiles didn’t last for Smiley who was forced to retire to the pits shortly afterwards.

Collard ran wide with a puncture at the Fogarty Esses a lap after all of that, while Taylor-Smith continued his upwards travel by slotting past Patterson into third. By now, Daryl De Leon was another driver on the move, rising to the top-five in his BMW. And that was a charge which would continue over the closing laps, with De Leon overhauling Taylor-Smith to reach the rostrum. By that point, Morgan was substantially clear enough to control things to the flag while Moffat was able to secure second.

Patterson crossed the line fifth at the start of lap nine, but quickly lost ground to Shedden, Sutton and Rainford to fall to eighth. Sutton eventually came through on top of this mini fight to secure fifth and extend his championship lead to more than 100 points. Rainford crossed the line sixth with Shedden seventh.

Josh Cook was eighth by the flag after muscling past Ingram late in the race, with the duo ending the contest just ahead of Patterson who completed the top 10.

Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship, Race 3, Donington Park

1. Adam Morgan, CPRL, Mercedes A35 Saloon
2. Aiden Moffat, LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing, Audi A3 Saloon, +2.813s
3. Daryl De Leon, WSR, BMW 330i M Sport, +3.433s
4. Aron Taylor-Smith, Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport, Toyota Corolla GR Sport, +7.048s
5. Ash Sutton, NAPA Racing UK, Ford Focus Titanium, +8.478s
6. Charles Rainford, WSR, BMW 330i M Sport, +9.796s
7. Gordon Shedden, Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport, Toyota Corolla GR Sport, +9.834s
8. Josh Cook, Speedworks Corolla Racing, Toyota Corolla GR Sport, +13.429s
9. Tom Ingram, Team VERTU, Hyundai i30 N, +13.896s
10. Dexter Patterson, Steel Seal with Power Maxed Racing, Audi A3 Saloon, +14.320s

Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship, Standings 

1. Ash Sutton, NAPA Racing UK, Ford Focus Titanium, 380
2. Tom Ingram, Team VERTU, Hyundai i30N, 279
3. Dan Cammish, NAPA Racing UK, Ford Focus Titanium, 274
4. Adam Morgan, CPRL, Mercedes A35 Saloon, 222
5. Ricky Collard, Team VERTU, Hyundai i30N, 202