Jason Plato takes Brands Hatch victory in brand new MG

Plato was fifth when the first attempt at the race was red-flagged. Mat Jackson's Motorbase Ford Focus, which had been running second, ran wide at Paddock and then dropped fluid on the approach to Druids.

The chasing Rob Austin (Audi) had a moment on the fluid, before seven cars subsequently went off and the red flags flew.

Rob Collard's WSR BMW, which had led the first effort, also took the lead of the restarted race, chased by Austin and Andrew Jordan's Eurotech Honda Civic.

Despite a moment at Graham Hill Bend, Plato fought off Dave Newsham's ES Racing Vauxhall Vectra for fourth and chased after the lead trio.

As the race wore on Collard and Austin faded. Jordan forced his way by both at Clearways on consecutive laps, but Plato's Triple Eight MG6 soon followed.

He quickly closed on Jordan and put the Honda driver under intense pressure. Jordan held on until, with five laps to go, he left a small gap at Clearways.

Plato forced his way past and pulled clear to score the first win for the MG6, which had not had a proper test until the week before Brands.

Behind Jordan, Newsham completed the podium, despite a late charge from Gordon Shedden's works Honda. After a torrid day beset by electrical problems, Shedden finally got a clean run and showed impressive pace as he charged through the pack to fourth.

Jeff Smith (Eurotech) made it three Hondas in the top five, after barging past Collard in a move that also allowed Austin to claim sixth.

Reigning champion Matt Neal recovered from a first corner moment to take eighth.

Results - 20 laps (after restart):

Pos  Driver           Team/Car             Time/Gap
 1.  Jason Plato      Triple 8 MG        16m41.826s
 2.  Andrew Jordan    Eurotech Honda       + 1.866s
 3.  Dave Newsham     ES Vauxhall          + 8.283s
 4.  Jeff Smith       Eurotech Honda      + 10.525s
 5.  Rob Austin       Austin Audi         + 11.755s
 6.  Rob Collard      WSR BMW             + 13.117s
 7.  Matt Neal        Dynamics Honda      + 14.498s
 8.  Aron Smith       Motorbase Ford      + 22.056s
 9.  Lea Wood         Wood Vauxhall       + 25.211s
10.  Tony Gilham      Gilham Honda        + 28.311s
11.  Liam Griffin     Motorbase Ford      + 29.360s
12.  Chris James      ES Vauxhall         + 32.304s
13.  Frank Wrathall   Dynojet Toyota      + 38.902s
14.  Andy Neate       Triple 8 MG         + 39.136s
15.  Tony Hughes      Speedworks Toyota     + 1 lap
16.  John Thorne      Thorney Vauxhall     + 2 laps

Retirements:

     Ollie Jackson    AmD Volkswagen         0 laps
     Mat Jackson      Motorbase Ford         0 laps
     Tom Onslow-Cole  WSR BMW                0 laps
     Daniel Welch     Welch Proton           0 laps
     Adam Morgan      Speedworks Toyota      0 laps
     Gordon Shedden   Dynamics Honda         0 laps