NAPA Racing UK's Dan Cammish powered his Ford Focus ST to victory in the opening Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship race of the season at Donington Park.

Cammish, who started fifth on the grid, avoided drama on the first lap to run second, and then made a late move stick on long-time leader Jake Hill, before pulling away.

Laser Tools-backed BMW driver Hill held off Hyundai's reigning champion Tom Ingram on the dash to the line, while Power Maxed Vauxhall's series debutant Andrew Watson was one of the stars of the race as he powered from ninth to fourth.

Cammish's teammate and pole sitter Daniel Rowbottom was fifth, ahead of Toyota Gazoo Racing UK's Ricky Collard who completed the top-six.

With tricky conditions after overnight and morning rain, there was drama in the opening seconds, as Rowbottom's fellow front row starter and teammate Ash Sutton, and Hill from third attempted to manoeuvre around the relatively slow starting pole man.

As they did, Hill and Sutton made contact, with the Ford driver battling to keep control but ultimately bouncing across the grass and dropping down the field.

Moments later, exiting the Old Hairpin, Colin Turkington ran wide and with cars on his right hand side, was delayed as he ran through the gravel and dropped to 16th.

The safety car was deployed though with Tom Chilton in the gravel, but he was able to return to the race, while Sutton pitted into retirement with a smoking engine.

The race quickly resumed, and Hill held onto his lead from Cammish with Ingram up to third, but racing was neutralised again with Nick Halstead dropping his Hyundai into the gravel at the Old Hairpin.

Four laps later came the next restart, with Hill, Cammish and Ingram resuming a battle that would last all the way to the final stages of the race. With four laps to go, the top two almost made contact exiting Redgate, with both squirming through Hollywood, but a lap later, Cammish found the outside line through the Craners and finally found his way through up the inside at the Old Hairpin.

As he streaked clear, Hill was left to fend off Ingram, but behind them Watson provided one of the biggest talking points of the race on his debut.

Starting ninth, he'd avoided the first lap drama, and when racing resumed he found his way past Collard and then took Rowbottom at the Robert's chicane on lap 14 to take fourth.

Showing his pace, he sliced half a second a lap off the leaders, and caught them just as Cammish took the lead. With Hill and Ingram battling, Watson was able to stay with them and even threatened the reigning champion towards the end.

But Ingram kept hold of his hybrid deployment to challenge Hill for second on the run to the line on the last lap, with the duo crossing the line side by side, and the BMW driver taking the position by 0.093s from Ingram, with Watson just behind them.

Outside the top-six Adam Morgan took seventh in his BMW ahead of Toyota's local driver George Gamble, with Josh Cook ninth despite a trip through the Redgate gravel at the first restart. The second Vauxhall Astra of Aron Taylor-Smith completed the top-10 from 16th on the grid.

The second BTCC race of the weekend is due to commence at 14.40.

Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship, Donington Park, race one result:
1. Dan Cammish, NAPA Racing UK, Ford Focus ST, 21 laps
2. Jake Hill. Laster Tools Racing with MB Motorsport, BMW 330e M Sport, +2.114s
3. Tom Ingram, Bristol Street Motors with Excelr8, Hyundai i30N, +2.207s
4. Andrew Watson, CarStore Power Maxed Racing, Vauxhall Astra, +2.614s
5. Daniel Rowbottom, NAPA Racing UK, +6.350s
6. Ricky Collard, Toyota Gazoo Racing UK, Toyota Corolla GR Sport, +9.057s
7. Adam Morgan, Team BMW, BMW 330e M Sport, +13.907s
8. George Gamble, Toyota Gazoo Racing UK, Toyota Corolla GR Sport, +14.057s
9. Jake Cook, One Motorsport with Starline Racing, Honda Civic Type R, +14.283s
10. Aron Taylor-Smith, Vauxhall Astra, 14.691s

Click here for full result. 

Tickets are available on the gate all weekend at Donington Park. Click here for more information.