Jason Plato gains ground in British Touring Car title fight with Brands Hatch victory

One of Plato's rivals from qualifying, Andrew Jordan, went out before the race even began. Electrical problems meant the Eurotech Vauxhall could not join poleman Plato on the front row.

Jordan's absence allowed Plato to lead comfortably into Paddock as the lights went out, chased by his fast-starting Chevrolet team-mate Alex MacDowall and Matt Neal's Honda Civic.

The top three edged away as James Nash (Triple Eight) led a scrap for fourth that included Mat Jackson's Motorbase Ford Focus, Neal's team-mate Gordon Shedden, Paul O'Neill's Tech-Speed Cruze and Tom Onlsow-Cole in the lead Arena Focus.

Neal shadowed the Cruzes until lap 10 of 15, when the Honda slowed with a left-front puncture. While the pack found a way past the cruising Neal, Jackson slipped past Nash to jump from fifth to third and headed off after the Cruzes.

Shedden had already fallen back when he made a mistake at Graham Hill Bend, but still looked set to finish eighth until he too was struck with a front-left puncture. The rubber problems meant both Hondas finished the race point-less, while Plato took a maximum score to close right up on the duo in the championship standings.

A vibration caused MacDowall to worry about a possible puncture in the closing stages, and he did not fight when Jackson attacked on the run to Clearways on the penultimate tour. The second Cruze nevertheless completed the podium.

Nash took fourth, as Onslow-Cole beat O'Neill in a hard-fought duel to secure fifth. Team-mate Tom Chilton was not far behind in seventh.

Tom Boardman's STR SEAT Leon should have been next, but suffered a puncture on the final tour. That allowed Rob Collard (WSR BMW), who survived a clash with Frank Wrathall that caused damage and ultimately an off for the Dynojet Toyota, to pip Andy Neate's Arena Focus for eighth.

Results - 15 laps:

Pos  Driver           Team/Car                 Time/Gap
 1.  Jason Plato      Chevrolet              23m34.527s
 2.  Mat Jackson      Motorbase Ford           + 2.121s
 3.  Alex MacDowall   Chevrolet                + 3.091s
 4.  James Nash       Triple 8 Vauxhall        + 3.818s
 5.  Tom Onslow-Cole  Arena Ford               + 4.574s
 6.  Paul O'Neill     Tech-Speed Chevrolet     + 5.019s
 7.  Tom Chilton      Arena Ford               + 5.841s
 8.  Rob Collard      WSR BMW                 + 12.720s
 9.  Andy Neate       Arena Ford              + 13.174s
10.  Nick Foster      WSR BMW                 + 22.015s
11.  Ollie Jackson    Triple 8 Vauxhall       + 25.027s
12.  Michael Caine    Motorbase Ford          + 31.462s
13.  Rob Austin       Rob Austin Audi         + 32.885s
14.  John George      Tech-Speed Chevrolet    + 33.368s
15.  Tony Gilham      Geoff Steel BMW         + 35.338s
16.  Liam Griffin     Motorbase Ford          + 36.263s
17.  Chris Swanwick   Rob Austin Audi         + 55.514s
18.  Matt Neal        Honda                   + 57.918s
19.  Gordon Shedden   Honda                 + 1m11.024s
20.  Chris James      ES Chevrolet          + 1m12.716s
21.  Tony Hughes      Speedworks Toyota     + 1m16.324s
22.  Martin Byford    AmD Volkswagen            + 1 lap
23.  Tom Boardman     Special Tuning SEAT       + 1 lap

Retirements:

     Frank Wrathall   Dynojet Toyota             13laps
     Lea Wood         Central Honda              9 laps
     Dave Newsham     Special Tuning SEAT        8 laps
     Daniel Welch     Welch Proton               6 laps
     Jeff Smith       Eurotech Vauxhall          3 laps
     Andrew Jordan    Eurotech Vauxall           0 laps