Feature race: Muller wins bizarre race

Muller was left in the wake of factory Astra Coupe team mate Jason Plato in the early stages. The Frenchman had opted for a set-up he knew would be disadvantageous in the initial laps, but come on strong later on, and was not too fussed when Phil Bennett's Egg Sport Vauxhall went ahead into second place on the fifth lap.

James Thompson, in the second Egg car, also got ahead of Muller, but the ice racing star soon nipped back ahead. He then became frustrated behind Bennett, who he claimed was making mistakes, and tipped the rookie into a spin at the Goddards hairpin with a rather over ambitious move at the end of the ninth lap.

Two laps later the safety car appeared. Some light drizzle had caught out runaway Production class leader Simon Graves, who spun his Barwell Honda into the gravel at McLeans.

Bennett, after his spin, as well as Peugeot man Dan Eaves, had already made their compulsory pit stops, but took advantage of the safety car to make optional tyre changes onto wet-weather rubber. But, by the time the safety car had returned to the pits after an overlong interlude, the rain had stopped and it became apparent that this was the wrong move to have made.

On the first lap after the restart Muller made a fabulous move on Plato into the Esses to take the lead of the race, but at the end of that tour only Muller of the leading runners stayed out. That was where Plato lost the race, a problem on his right front wheel during his pit stop dropping him down the order.

Muller pitted one lap later, promoting Tom Ferrier to the race lead. The JSM Alfa driver had made his pit stop before the safety car and appeared to be lapping quickly enough to hold on for a remarkable victory, as the regular contenders were a long way behind. But his pace started slowing and, when the safety car appeared for the second time, he was already suffering oil pressure problems.

This period under caution was caused by hapless backmarker John B-and-Q, who got confused by blue flags at the Old Hairpin and was collected by the helpless Mat Jackson, who was leading the Production class in his Ford Focus.

When the race went green again there were just four laps left. Ferrier was overwhelmed at the restart and instantly pulled off, his Alfa unable to go any further. Muller, meanwhile, took the lead, with James Thompson (Egg Vauxhall) applying pressure in second place, but the Frenchman held on for his 10th win of the season.

"Thompson was very quick in the slow corners," said Muller, "but I made a small gap over the rest of the circuit where I was a little bit quicker."

After his slow stop, Plato - who had set fastest lap on lap two - battled back ahead of Anthony Reid's MG into third. Reid looked set for a good result, but was then taken off at the Old Hairpin on the penultimate lap by Bennett, who had switched back to slicks and then made a fourth pit visit for a drive-through penalty!

"He was so far back he wasn't even worthy of consideration," said an unhappy Reid. "It broke my suspension on the spot."

Thomas Erdos struggled on to take fourth in his Lexus from Eaves (back on slicks) and Warren Hughes, who missed the pit stop window and was called in for a drive-through - his radio had fallen out of its mountings and was rattling around the passenger footwell.

The Production class was just as eventful. Roger Moen took a great comeback win in his HTML Peugeot, having dropped as low as ninth when he ran wide at the Old Hairpin. Team mate Simon Harrison followed him, his 306 jumping out of second gear and having some engine problems.

Amazingly, Jackson continued in his banana-shaped Focus and took third on the last lap from the slowing Colin Blair, whose Alfa hit problems on the last lap just when it seemed he was set to take an attrition-aided podium finish.

Gareth Howell and Gavin Pyper dropped out of the class battle in the early laps, while James Kaye and Tom Boardman were hamstrung by their teams' decisions to switch to wet-weather tyres and dropped well off the pace as the track stayed dry.

All this means that both title battles go down to the wire. Plato leads Muller by six points going into the Brands Hatch finale in the overall championship, while Harrison is five ahead of Moen and 19 ahead of Kaye in the Production battle.

Yvan Muller (Vauxhall Astra Coupe) 32 laps in 1m07m33.634s
James Thompson (Egg Sport Vauxhall Astra Coupe) +0.646s
Jason Plato (Vauxhall Astra Coupe) +6.418s
Thomas Erdos (TMSR Lexus IS200) +10.335s
Dan Eaves (Peugeot 406 Coupe) +16.055s
P Roger Moen (HTML Peugeot 306) +34.081s
P Simon Harrison (HTML Peugeot 306) +35.928s
Warren Hughes (MG ZS) +36.674s
P Mat Jackson (GR Ford Focus) +38.657s
P Colin Blair (GA Janspeed Alfa Romeo 156) +46.629s
P Nick Beaumont (B&Q Honda Integra) +54.655ss
P Tom Boardman (TBR Peugeot 306) +1m54.424s
Plato 1m42.407s
Simon Graves (Barwell Honda Accord) 1m48.223s

Plato 308
Muller 302
Thompson 266
Bennett 149
Eaves 99
Soper 93
Erdos 72
Harvey 37
Luby 33
Blair 15
Priaulx 15

Harrison 217
Moen 212
Kaye 198
Jackson 148
Howell 125
Pyper 114