Tom Ingram and Aiden Moffat made a winning start to the 2024 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship season this past weekend (April 27-28) as they claimed victory at Donington Park.

Lifting the curtain on the new campaign after months of excitement and anticipation, the UK’s premier motorsport series blasted back into life in spectacular style with three high-octane contests around the 1.98-mile National layout.

On what proved to be a ground-breaking opening meeting – which saw each race broadcast live on TikTok as well as ITV4 – the 20-car entry kicked off proceedings with a frenetic qualifying session on Saturday, which was running under the new ‘Quick Six’ format.

Starting with the grid being split into two groups, the top six drivers from each segment progressed into Q2 where they then battled to move on to Q3, which saw the fastest six drivers ultimately battle it out for pole position.

Armed with more hybrid power this year, Ingram left it until the final moments to charge to pole position ahead of Ash Sutton by 0.051 seconds; while Colin Turkington, Jake Hill, Ronan Pearson and Andrew Watson completed the top-six.

Heavy rain battered the circuit on Sunday morning which led to substantial delays but when the action finally did get underway it was Ingram that emerged as the driver to beat as he claimed a comfortable lights-to-flag victory.

Withstanding a challenge from the fast-starting BMWs off the line, a lengthy safety car period to recover the crashed Ford Focus of Sam Osborne soon neutralised proceedings. On the restart, Ingram pulled clear and from there he was never challenged.

Behind him, reigning champion Sutton found a way past Hill in the closing stages to net second with the Laser Tools Racing BMW ace settling for third place.

Ingram doubled up in race two as he produced a fine late overtake on Hill to claim his second win of the weekend under the flightpath of East Midlands airport.

Hill took the lead as the lights went out and controlled much of the bout before Ingram and Sutton reeled him in. With four laps to go, the Hyundai ace found a way up the inside of Hill at the top of the Craner Curves to reclaim top spot.

Sutton wasted no time in following Ingram as he dived down the inside of him at the Old Hairpin a few moments later and he shadowed the 2022 champion home in what was a carbon copy podium from race one.

LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ’s Moffat then brought the curtain down on the opening weekend of the year with a superlative drive in race three to claim victory ahead of Turkington and Sutton.

On his debut outing for Speedworks Motorsport and Toyota, the Scotsman was wheel-perfect as he utilised all of his hybrid deployment to fend off the charging multiple champions at the end. Moffat made his way into the lead at mid-distance after overhauling his Toyota stablemate Rob Huff, who in-turn had taken the lead from Adam Morgan before that.

Leaving Donington Park, Ingram holds the advantage at the top of the Drivers’ Championship with Sutton and Hill completing, the trio blanketed by just 16 points at this early stage.

BMW lead the early going in the BTCC Manufacturer-Constructors Championship whilst NAPA Racing UK hold the early bragging rights in the BTCC Teams’ Championship. In the Independents’ category, Aron Taylor-Smith and Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing lead the way after the opening three rounds.

The Jack Sears Trophy – which is once again open to those drivers that have yet to score an outright podium in the series prior to the season starting – saw Mikey Doble edge out Nick Halstead to claim weekend honours.

To view the results of all BTCC sessions at Donington Park, CLICK HERE.

The 2024 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship continues at Brands Hatch on May 11/12; with Rounds 4, 5 & 6 playing out around the Indy layout of the Kent venue.