Rowbottom secures maiden BTCC win in drama filled Oulton Park opener

Dan Rowbottom is a winner in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) for the first time after securing victory in the opener at Oulton Park.

It was an eventful affair which had to be restarted after a multi car accident at Lodge to open the race.

Senna Proctor started the race on pole but a slow start allowed Gordon Shedden to blast into the lead with Rowbottom storming through to follow his teammate into second. Further down, Aiden Moffat tangled with Colin Turkington sending the Team BMW driver off the road, with Ash Sutton also taken out of contention.

But the main incident happened with Jason Plato and Tom Oliphant clashing and tipped into a spin at Lodge with Chris Smiley left with nowhere to go. The BMW rolled back and hit the rear of the car at speed with Rick Parfitt also getting caught up in the incident.

The race was then restarted with a six lap shootout with Rowbottom using his opportunity to head to the front. Butcher behind spent the rest of the race keeping Stephen Jelley at bay with Moffat and Plato following with the Halfords Racing with Cataclean ace producing a brilliant race win.

2021 British Touring Car Championship – Race 1 – Oulton Park

1        Daniel ROWBOTTOM (GBR) Halfords Racing with Cataclean 6 laps
2        Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Racing with Cataclean +0.384s
3        Adam MORGAN (GBR) Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport +2.104s
4        Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Toyota Gazoo Racing UK +5.885s
5        Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team BMW +6.170s
6        Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +7.053s
7        Jason PLATO (GBR) Adrian Flux with Power Maxed Racing +7.469s
8        Jake HILL (GBR) MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square +7.829s
9        Senna PROCTOR (GBR) BTC Racing +8.082s
10      Jack GOFF (GBR) Team HARD. with Autobrite Direct +8.444s
11      Carl BOARDLEY (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +9.405s
12      Ollie JACKSON (GBR) MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square +10.629s
13      Daniel LLOYD (GBR) Adrian Flux with Power Maxed Racing +10.897s
14      Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +10.955s
15      Josh COOK (GBR) BTC Racing +11.690s
16      Árón TAYLOR-SMITH (IRL) Team HARD. with HUB Financial Solutions +14.195s
17      Tom CHILTON (GBR) Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport +14.373s
18      Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +14.593s
19      Tom INGRAM (GBR) Ginsters EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com +15.331
20      Jack BUTEL (GBR) EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com +15.580s
21      Jade EDWARDS (GBR) PHSC with BTC Racing +16.384s
22      Jack MITCHELL (GBR) Team HARD. with Autobrite Direct +17.203s
23      Sam SMELT (GBR) Toyota Gazoo Racing UK +17.530s
24      Sam OSBORNE (GBR) Racing with Wera & Photon Group +3 laps
25      Tom OLIPHANT (GBR) Team BMW +6 laps
26      Chris SMILEY (GBR) Ginsters EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com +6 laps
27      Rick PARFITT (GBR) EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com +6 laps