Kane takes maiden win at Thruxton

Kane, who spent last year as the test driver for the Formula 2 championship, resisted extreme pressure from his team-mate to beat him to the chequered flag by a second after 18 hard-fought laps.

Rob Collard started the reversed grid race from pole in his WSR BMW and led Kane during the early stages, although Matt Neal's Honda soon closed in on the pair.

The key moment of the race came on lap seven. Neal, lying third, drove around the outside of Kane at the chicane, but within the same move also made contact with Collard, the second impact spinning the latter into the tyre wall opposite the pit entrance.

While Collard was out on the spot and the damage to Neal's car also forced his retirement, Kane slipped through to grab the lead, hotly pursued by Jackson.

Following a late-race safety car period, the pair disputed the lead, with Jackson's only opportunity to pass being thwarted when the pair came across waved yellow flags at Allard with two laps to go.

Behind them, Jason Plato finished third for Chevrolet, Gordon Shedden fourth for Honda and Fabrizio Giovanardi fifth for Triple 8 Vauxhall. Those results mean that Giovanardi left Thruxton with a nine-point lead over Plato in the championship.

Phil Glew had been due a top six result before his Triple 8 Vauxhall gave out a puff of smoke and then slowed to a halt with a lap and a half to go.

That allowed Paul O'Neill to gain a place and finish sixth in his Tech-Speed Honda while seventh and eighth places for Arena Ford team-mates Tom Onslow-Cole and Tom Chilton represented the first BTCC points for cars powered by LPG engines.

Pos Driver              Car                  Time/Gap
 1. Steven Kane         BMW                25m29.299s
 2. Mat Jackson         BMW                    +1.096
 3. Jason Plato         Chevrolet              +1.543
 4. Gordon Shedden      Honda                  +1.733
 5. F.Giovanardi        Vauxhall               +1.907
 6. Paul O'Neill        Honda                  +8.381
 7. Tom Onslow-Cole     Ford                   +9.036
 8. Tom Chilton         Ford                   +9.643
 9. Alex MacDowall      Chevrolet             +11.363
10. David Pinkney       Vauxhall              +12.003
11. Andy Neate          BMW                   +23.338
12. Matthew Hamilton    Honda                 +40.177
13. Tom Boardman        SEAT                +1:19.688
14. Andrew Jordan       Vauxhall               +1 lap

Not classified

    Philip Glew         Vauxhall              16 laps
    John George         Honda                 14 laps
    Shaun Hollamby      Volkswagen            13 laps
    Matt Neal           Honda                  7 laps
    Rob Collard         BMW                    6 laps
    Martin Johnson      Vauxhall               0 laps