BTCC Croft: Mat Jackson fends off Ash Sutton for race three win

Mat Jackson started on the front row alongside AmD Tuning Audi driver Ollie Jackson, but Mat Jackson tapped the back of his rival going into Sunny In on lap three.

That gave the Ford man a big advantage from second placed Rob Austin (Handy Motorsport Toyota Avensis) as he held off a queue of rivals behind.

Sutton quickly worked his way onto Austin's tail after despacthing Team BMR Subaru Levorg team-mate Jason Plato just before half-distance, taking the inside line and the position at the final hairpin.

Sutton powered ahead of Austin soon after and slashed Mat Jackson's four-second advantage to nothing as the pair started the final lap. Despite running side-by-side out of the final corner, Mat Jackson held on.

"That was a tough race," said Mat Jackson. "I could see Austin in second place and I took things steady, I wanted to save the car for later on in the race.

"Then I saw one of those rear-wheel-drive cars in my mirror and I knew I was in for a fight.

"Sutton went for it around the outside, and I wasn't going to let him have it."

Sutton was delighted with second place. "I was held up a bit getting past Jason, because I knew it had to be a good move, but I could see the leaders getting away.

"And on the last lap - what racing driver wouldn't try something? I had to, but Mat ran me out of road. That's how it goes."

Behind Sutton, Plato worked hard to unseat Austin from third place and managed it as the cars powered out of the final corner, sealing the place by 0.04s.

Matt Neal in the Team Dynamics Honda Civic climbed from 18^th on the grid to seal fifth position with a stirring drive, and he headed WSR BMW 125i WSR team-mates Colin Turkington and Andrew Jordan.

The third WSR BMW, Rob Collard, had been shuffled down the pack after running in fifth initially as Neal powered through, and he regain the track for eighth place.

Gordon Shedden (Team Dynamics Civic) and Ollie Jackson rounded out the top 10.

RESULTS - 16 LAPS