Ingram holds on for maiden Hyundai win at Snetterton

Excler8 Motorsport's Tom Ingram has given the Hyundai i30N its first ever British Touring Car Championship race victory after beating reigning champion Ash Sutton and Gordon Shedden in an entertaining reverse grid finale at Snetterton.

Ingram started race three from fourth on the grid, but muscled his way into the lead as early as lap five and remained in that position to take his first BTCC victory since switching from Toyota to Excler8 Motorsport this season.

With Ingram starting on the second row, it was Team BMW duo Stephen Jelley and Tom Oliphant and Stephen Jelley who led the way in the early stages.

However, Jelley and Oliphant's race soon began to unravel after contact with the Ford of Ollie Jackson saw Oliphant spin out of contention down to 16th, while Jelley lost the lead of the race to Ingram just a couple of laps later on lap five.

With Ash Sutton and Gordon Shedden taking the fight to Ingram at the head of the field, Jelley dropped further down the order to fifth, with the BTC Racing Honda Civic Type-R of Josh Cook also getting the better of the BMW.

Despite the apparent pace of Sutton and Shedden posing a danger to Ingram's lead, the Hyundai remained consistent at the front of the field with the gap hovering around the 1.5s mark.

That gap proved to be enough for Ingram and Excler8, while Shedden was forced to settle for third position behind Sutton after the former three-time champion surged from 11th on the grid.

Cook held fourth ahead of Jelley, while Butcher consolidated sixth ahead of Team BMW's Colin Turkington in seventh.