Muller Wins Chaotic Race 3

Muller had looked set for a difficult afternoon thanks to his fifth place on the grid, but after an aggressive start he had managed to jump up to third at the first corner behind Chilton and pole man Jason Plato, before muscling his way through to second later that lap.

As Plato then lost time getting involved in a series of crashes, spins and incidents that delighted the spectators, Muller set about closing the gap on Chilton at the front.

Chilton was coming under inreased pressure from his Vauxhall rival, and eventually he made a mistake at the first corner on lap six and ran wide - handing Muller the lead that he would not relinquish.

Muller eventually finished 1.1 seconds clear of Chilton at the chequered flag, while Rob Collard in the MG took third place after a last lap move around the outside of Dan Eaves on the final lap.

Collard had been shuffled down the order after some early clashes with his rivals but staged a brilliant fightback to claim the final podium spot.

After a chaotic opening spell to the race that left a host of cars with bodywork damage, Eaves had been running third when he survived a half spin after being tapped by Plato on lap nine. He then could not believe his luck as he reclaimed his third place after Plato and Matt Neal collided with each just one corner later - bringing the Safety Car out.

Colin Turkington took fifth for Vauxhall, ahead of Gavin Smith and the recovering Neal - who took some valuable points that maintains his lead in the Championship table.

CLASSIFIED:

Pos  Driver            Make                   Time
 1.  Yvan Muller       Vauxhall Astra         28:01.018
 2.  Tom Chilton       Honda Civic Type-R     +   1.101
 3.  Rob Collard       MG ZS                  +   5.770
 4.  Dan Eaves         Honda Integra          +   6.944
 5.  Colin Turkington  Vauxhall Astra         +   7.282
 6.  Gavin Smith       Vauxhall Astra         +   7.573
 7.  Matt Neal         Honda Integra          +   8.409
 8.  Jason Hughes      MG ZS                  +   9.976
 9.  Fiona Leggate     Vauxhall Astra Coupe   +  13.496
10.  Mark Proctor      Vauxhall Astra Coupe   +  20.142
11.  James Kaye        Honda Civic Type-R     +  29.807
12.  Ian Curley        Lexus IS200            +  30.012
13.  Richard Williams  Lexus IS200            +  30.397

NOT CLASSIFIED/RETIREMENTS:

     Driver            Make                 On Lap
     Jason Plato       SEAT Toledo Cupra      8
     Luke Hines        SEAT Toledo Cupra      3
     James Pickford    SEAT Toledo Cupra      1