Howell wins season finale

The Team Halfords driver grabbed the lead from Paul O'Neill - who had been granted a front row spot on the reverse grid - under braking for Brooklands on lap three, and quickly pulled away.

Two safety car periods brought the pack back on to Howell's tail, but he always had enough in hand and duly secured his second win of the day.

Colin Turkington stormed through from 20th on the grid to become Howell's main challenger. The RAC MG driver was up to fifth within just three laps, benefiting from a catalogue of incidents ahead.

He then passed Darren Turner, Tom Ferrier and O'Neill to move onto Howell's tail, where he would remain for the duration, despite his best efforts to overcome the leading Honda.

Tom Chilton fended off a train of SEATs for third, finishing with Jason Plato, James Thompson (both up from the back of the grid) and Turner close behind him.

Rob Collard also joined this pack in the closing laps after winning a dice with Ferrier, who showed promising pace on his return to the series.

Struggling to match the leaders' straightline speed, O'Neill eventually slipped to ninth, but a determined rearguard action in the closing laps meant that he kept Gavin Smith, Hughes and Dave Pinkey at bay.

Howell's win gave Team Halfords a clean sweep of the Silverstone races, but the winner was the only member of the team to finish the final round.

Double champion Matt Neal did not even make the start. A rose joint pulled out of a wishbone on the warm-up lap, sending him back to the garage.

Gordon Shedden was in contention for a podium, but went off at Brooklands in company with Fabrizio Giovanardi on the second lap.

CLASSIFIED:

Pos  Driver            Make        Time
 1.  Gareth Howell     Honda       28:09.575
 2.  Colin Turkington  MG          +   0.966
 3.  Tom Chilton       Vauxhall    +   5.129
 4.  Jason Plato       SEAT        +   5.721
 5.  James Thompson    SEAT        +   6.104
 6.  Darren Turner     SEAT        +   6.627
 7.  Rob Collard       MG          +   9.194
 8.  Tom Ferrier       SEAT        +  12.054
 9.  Paul O'Neill      Vauxhall    +  15.009
10.  Gavin Smith       Vauxhall    +  15.144
11.  Jason Hughes      MG          +  15.358
12.  David Pinkney     Honda       +  15.573
13.  Mark Smith        Alfa Romeo  +  29.945
14.  Richard Marsh     Peugeot     +  30.746
15.  Martyn Bell       BMW         +  50.598
16.  F.Giovanardi      Vauxhall    +  1 Lap

NOT CLASSIFIED:

     Driver            Make        Lap
     Darren Dowling    Lexus       12
     Mark Jones        Lexus       12
     James Kaye        Honda        8
     Chris Stockton    Lexus        8
     Gordon Shedden    Honda        2
     Matt Neal         Honda        0