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Plato takes dramatic last-gasp win

Jason Plato took a dramatic victory in the first British Touring Car race of the day at Brands Hatch, passing long-time leader Tom Chilton at the final corner of the race to secure the win and halve deficit in the championship

Coming out of Stirlings on the final lap, Chilton - who had led all the way from pole position - ran slightly wide, costing his Arena Ford Focus momentum down the penultimate straight.

After compromising his line at Clearways, he slid wide on the exit, allowing Plato to put his RML Chevrolet inside and use his superior drive out of the corner to claim the win by just 15 hundredths of a second - one of the closest finishes in BTCC history.

While Chilton's result was his best of the season, Plato's fifth win of the year allowed him to reduce his deficit to championship leader Colin Turkington from 28 points to 14, with 34 still up for grabs.

Fabrizio Giovanardi, who is chasing a third straight title, completed the podium places in his Vauxhall. With Turkington only managing eighth place however, Giovanardi also closed in on the Northern Irishman in the standings and is now only six points adrift.

Giovanardi led his Vauxhall team-mates Andrew Jordan and Matt Neal, while Motorbase BMW duo Rob Collard and Jonathan Adam came home sixth and seventh.

Further back, Anthony Reid took his first point since returning to WSR at Silverstone in 10th, but Team Dynamics Honda driver Johnny Herbert understeered off the track at Druids, triggering one of two safety car periods that bunched up the pack.

Pos Driver                   Car              Time/Gap
 1. Jason Plato              Chevrolet      31m03.701s
 2. Tom Chilton              Ford               +0.015
 3. Fabrizio Giovanardi      Vauxhall           +1.873
 4. Andrew Jordan            Vauxhall           +3.103
 5. Matt Neal                Vauxhall           +3.900
 6. Rob Collard              BMW                +4.458
 7. Jonathan Adam            BMW                +4.956
 8. Colin Turkington         BMW                +5.986
 9. Paul O'Neill             Honda              +6.537
10. Anthony Reid             BMW                +6.916
11. Harry Vaulkhard          Chevrolet          +7.479
12. Mat Jackson              Chevrolet          +8.905
13. Tom Onslow-Cole          Ford              +11.571
14. Stephen Jelley           BMW               +15.399
15. David Pinkney            Honda             +15.426
16. John George              Honda             +22.113
17. Martyn Bell              Honda             +29.951

Retirements

    Gordon Shedden           SEAT               9 laps
    Johnny Herbert           Honda              9 laps
    Martin Johnson           Vauxhall           2 laps
    Matthew Hamilton         Honda              0 laps

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