Moffat claims first BTCC winposted in BTCC16 | 04 | 2017
SCOT AIDEN MOFFAT bagged the first British Touring Car Championship win of his career when he dominated the opening race at Donington Park.
The 20-year-old from Dalkeith, who made his BTCC debut as a 16-year-old at Knockhill, powered through from fourth on the grid in his Mercedes to beat triple champ Matt Neal's Honda by 1.504secs.
"That win was unbelievable ," Moffat said afterwards. "I knew I had a good car underneath me, and it seemed to switch on quicker than the others which gave me the edge.
"I knew once I got ahead of Tom (Ingram) it would be difficult for anyone else to get back ahead of me. I was praying there wouldn't be a safety car, and I was relieved to see the chequered flag.
"This win has been a long time coming, but it's for everyone in the team and everyone who has believed that I can be a success in the BTCC."
Moffat though struggled with the extra 75kg success ballast in race two, slipping from pole to eventually finish 14th.
Instead it was Ingram who won the day's second race, becoming the first driver to win two races this season, edging out the BMW of Rob Collard and Ash Sutton's Subaru.
In a chaotic rainstorm-hit finale, defending champ Gordon Shedden took the chequered flag to claim his second race of the season. The 38-year-old from Auchterarder dominated the race to win by 4.585secs from Colin Turkington's BMW, with Sutton third again and Moffat ninth.
But hours later, Shedden’s delight turned to disappointment when stewards adjudged his Honda to have failed the ride-height test, and he was excluded from the results.
It also means that instead of leading the championship by for points, he has dropped to fourth, 19 points behind Ingram.
Related: Shedden starts P8 at Donington
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Jim McGill