Giovanardi wins again at Thruxton

The Triple 8 Vauxhall driver made a superb getaway and built a 1.5-second lead within the first three laps, which he was able to maintain for the rest of the 16-lap race. His 24th BTCC victory allowed him to open up an early 11-point lead in the championship.

Behind him, there was a terrific scrap for second place involving Jason Plato's Chevrolet, Paul O'Neill's Tech-Speed Honda and Mat Jackson's Motorbase BMW, which had bogged down off the line but regained a number of spots at the Complex on lap one.

The trio were joined by Matt Neal's Honda during the latter stages of the race, the two-time champion passing Jackson under braking at the Complex on lap 11 and then edging inside O'Neill at the fast Goodwood corner the next time around.

Neal then latched onto Plato's tail and drew alongside his old rival as the pair approached the chicane for the penultimate time. With both trying to out-brake each other, they collided, Plato spinning and Neal cutting the chicane in avoidance.

While Neal, who started 12th, was able to keep enough momentum going to retain second place, O'Neill snuck into third spot while Plato dropped to fourth by the flag.

Jackson was next up while Plato's team-mate Alex MacDowall beat Phil Glew to sixth place - both drivers taking career-best results. Tom Boardman had led the pair during the early stages, but ran wide onto the grass exiting Goodwood and dropped to 15th.

Both Andrew Jordan's Eurotech Vauxhall and Martin Johnson's Boulevard Vauxhall suffered punctures during the race while Tom Chilton retired his Arena Ford in the pits after reporting a vibration at the front end of his car.

Eighth went to Steven Kane, the Motorbase driver coming up from 18th on the grid, while Rob Collard's WSR BMW and David Pinkney's Pinkney Vauxhall completed the top-10.

Pos Driver                   Car               Time/Gap
 1. Fabrizio Giovanardi      Vauxhall        21m32.829s
 2. Matt Neal                Honda               +2.429
 3. Paul O'Neill             Honda               +4.008
 4. Jason Plato              Chevrolet           +5.046
 5. Mat Jackson              BMW                 +6.144
 6. Alex MacDowall           Chevrolet           +6.844
 7. Philip Glew              Vauxhall            +7.128
 8. Steven Kane              BMW                +13.309
 9. Rob Collard              BMW                +14.902
10. David Pinkney            Vauxhall           +16.857
11. Gordon Shedden           Honda              +17.096
12. Tom Onslow-Cole          Ford               +28.390
13. Matt Hamilton            Honda              +39.089
14. Andy Neate               BMW                +40.476
15. Andrew Jordan            Vauxhall           +50.065
16. Tom Boardman             SEAT               +54.477
17. John George              Honda              +54.874
18. Shaun Hollamby           Volkswagen         +55.749
19. Martin Johnson           Vauxhall            +1 lap

Not classified

    Tom Chilton              Ford                8 laps