Giovanardi wins race 3 at Croft

The Italian took the lead from Tom Onslow-Cole at the restart on lap three, and he then disappeared into the distance, while Plato struggled in the middle of the pack throughout the race.

The SEAT driver eventually dropped to eighth place, and the gap between the pair is now just two points at the top of the standings.

Onslow-Cole then had a quiet race to second place, while Mat Jackson ran alone in third for the majority of the race, but he did have to hold off Gordon Shedden near the end.

The top three had been able to get away as Jason Hughes held off the chasing pack for several laps in the early stages.

The MG driver had started on the front row due to the reverse grid rule for race three, and as he defended fourth place from Plato, the championship leader slipped behind teammate Darren Turner and Gordon Shedden.

Hughes soon dropped out of the top 10, but Plato's problems continued, as reigning champion Matt Neal barged his way through at the final corner for sixth place, and Tom Chilton followed him through.

Plato then came under pressure from race one winner Colin Turkington in the closing laps, after the BMW driver had charged through the field from 21 st on the grid.

Classified:

Pos   Driver            Car        Time
 1.   F.Giovanardi      Vauxhall   24:00.874
 2.   Tom Onslow-Cole   BMW        +   3.628
 3.   Mat Jackson       BMW        +   8.601
 4.   Gordon Shedden    Honda      +   9.067
 5.   Darren Turner     SEAT       +  14.131
 6.   Matt Neal         Honda      +  14.536
 7.   Tom Chilton       Vauxhall   +  15.294
 8.   Jason Plato       SEAT       +  16.071
 9.   Colin Turkington  BMW        +  16.819
10.   Mike Jordan       Honda      +  17.799
11.   Jason Hughes      MG         +  31.120
12.   David Pinkney     Alfa Romeo +  42.253
13.   Fiona Leggate     MG         +1:14.891
14.   Jim Pocklington   BMW        +   1 Lap

Not classified

      Driver            Make        Laps
      Matt Allison      SEAT          7
      John George       Honda         2
      Gareth Howell     SEAT          2
      Martyn Bell       BMW           0
      Erkut Kizilirmak  Vauxhall      0
      Chris Stockton    Lexus         0

Fastest lap: Giovanardi, 1:26.817 on lap 5