It is unlikely that Team BMW boss Dick Bennetts expected what was to come, however, as Jelley and Oliphant went toe-to-toe, with Oliphant tangling with the chasing Ollie Jackson, ending a potential BMW 1-2 result and putting Tom Ingram right on the boot lid of leader Jelley. It was around the halfway stage that Ingram finally worked his way past Jelley, with the BMW driver running wide at Riches and Ingram not needing a second invitation into the tight Montreal hairpin, before storming to take the first ever win for a Hyundai in the BTCC.
Jelley’s pace faded throughout the closing stages, allowing both race two winner Sutton and Gordon Shedden to bully their way through into the final podium places, giving the latter a small piece of redemption after the tough end to Saturday. Jelley finally crossed the finish line in fifth, also having lost a place to Josh Cook, who had had a somewhat lacklustre day himself up until that point.
With six races now in the book, Ash Sutton sits atop of the standings, just two points ahead of Colin Turkington with Tom Ingram only a further three points back. Josh Cook sits fourth, 15 points behind Turkington while Jake Hill, who led the championship going into the Snetterton weekend, only managed to bring home 11 points from the three races and leaves Norfolk fifth in the standings.
Elsewhere, Jessica Hawkins returned to Snetterton for her second meeting in a BTCC car, having sampled the Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall Astra in 2020, as she stepped in for Andy Neate in the Racing with Wera Ford Focus, who was taking a short step away from the series following a difficult Thruxton and, more significantly, a rather poor response directed towards him on social media as a result. Unfortunately for Hawkins, she was unable to break into the points as she finished 23rd, 21st and 23rd across the three races.
After a five week break between the first two meetings, BTCC fans have much less time to wait for their next fix, with less than two weeks before rounds seven, eight and nine around the short Brands Hatch Indy circuit.
Images courtesy of Motorsport Images.