Moffat’s LKQ-liveried Toyota Corolla GR Sport started on the front row alongside the polesitting Toyota Gazoo Racing GB version of Rob Huff from the other side of the Speedworks Motorsport stable, but neither could prevent Adam Morgan from propelling his rear-wheel-drive West Surrey Racing BMW 330e M Sport into the lead at the start.
Morgan stayed in front for three laps before the safety car emerged to retrieve the Unlimited Motorsport Cupra Leon of Daryl DeLeon, who ended up in the Old Hairpin gravel after losing it on the Craner Curves.
On the first lap of the restart, Morgan locked up at McLeans and that allowed Huff and Moffat through into a Toyota 1-2.
The duo then battled at the front, Moffat moving in front at half-distance, Huff snatching it back, before Moffat made a move stick at the chicane.
Morgan was next to attack Huff, but his move at McLeans sent both wide and it was Colin Turkington who sailed past both into second in his WSR BMW.
Turkington slashed the gap of 1.590 seconds to Moffat, but with five laps remaining the Northern Irishman had used all the hybrid allocation in his WSR BMW, while the Scot had three in his pocket and the chasing Ash Sutton had two.
Try as they might, neither could do anything about the other, and in turn, they had Tom Ingram, the winner of both of the first two races in his Excelr8 Motorsport Hyundai and Jake Hill’s WSR BMW closing in.
Ingram made the biggest bid on Sutton on the final lap, but the Alliance Racing Ford Focus driver somehow held a slide while defending into McLeans to hang onto third, with Hill in fifth.
Sutton had earlier pulled off a sensational move on Turkington at the Old Hairpin for what at the time was fourth place, only for the BMW to sail back ahead on the main straight by using hybrid.
Hill and Ingram also survived a collision at the chicane just past half-distance when the BMW driver attempted a move, with Ingram and the avoiding Huff flying across the gravel before rejoining.
Huff dropped to sixth at the finish and Morgan to seventh, while the top 10 was completed by Dan Rowbottom (Alliance Ford), Josh Cook (Speedworks Toyota) and Dan Cammish (Alliance Ford).
Cammish had looked on for a top result from the second row, but accidentally activated the line lock on his brakes at the start, and fell into the pick where all hell was breaking loose.
BTCC Donington Race Three Results
Results to follow
