Jackson scores first win in race 3

BMW driver Jackson had burst through from third on the grid to lead into Old Hall at the start.

In his wake, pole-starter Adam Jones fended off the two factory SEATs to hang on to second, and as the three cars filed into line for the corner, Matt Neal saw an opportunity down the inside of Plato's car.

But there was no space for the reigning champion, and he slewed sideways across the track after contact with Plato, triggering a chain reaction accident that would eliminate Neal, Colin Turkington and Giovanardi, and send Mike Jordan spinning to the tail of the field.

The accident also prompted a safety car period, after which Jackson made an early break while Plato and Darren Turner searched for a way past Jones.

When the Air Cool SEAT driver ran wide on lap five, Plato cruised past and quickly chased down Jackson, but despite keeping the pressure on the BTCC rookie throughout the remaining 12 laps, he had to settle for second place.

Turner eventually passed Jones as well and took third, narrowly fending off Gordon Shedden, who had made rapid progress from the back of the grid.

Jones came home a creditable fifth on his return to the series after missing the last two meetings. He was followed by Vauxhall's Tom Chilton, who grabbed sixth when Tom Onslow-Cole made a mistake with two laps to go.

Classified:

Pos  Driver            Car        Time
 1.  Mat Jackson       BMW        26:56.440
 2.  Jason Plato       SEAT       +   0.533
 3.  Darren Turner     SEAT       +   3.932
 4.  Gordon Shedden    Honda      +   4.102
 5.  Adam Jones        SEAT       +   9.571
 6.  Tom Chilton       Vauxhall   +  10.652
 7.  Tom Onslow-Cole   BMW        +  18.234
 8.  Matt Allison      SEAT       +  19.194
 9.  Mike Jordan       Honda      +  20.318
10.  Martyn Bell       BMW        +  40.839
11.  Erkut Kizilirmak  Vauxhall   +  41.838
12.  Rick Kerry        BMW        +1:25.054

Not classified:

     Driver            Car         Laps
     Richard Marsh     Alfa Romeo  15
     Fiona Leggate     MG          14
     Jim Pocklington   BMW         10
     Chris Stockton    Lexus       5
     F.Giovanardi      Vauxhall    2
     Matt Neal         Honda       0
     Colin Turkington  BMW         0
     John George       Honda       0