Plato Wins Race 1 at Oulton

Plato, who had started from pole position, stormed away at the lights to pull clear of early season pace-setters Dan Eaves and Neal in their Team Halfords Hondas.

It appeared that Plato would be set for a pretty easy victory, but Neal had other ideas as he set about trying to find a way past Eaves. His attempts came off into Old Hall on lap nine as he grabbed the second spot and then he swiftly set about closing the gap on the leader.

Plato appeared to have little in reserve to respond to Neal's swift pace, with the sweltering temperatures believed to have caused a bit of overheating to his tyres and brakes, and soon the pair were locked in battle.

Neal was keen for the win and on the penultimate lap at Lodge Corner he made a move, but it failed to come off. That ended up costing him valuable time, which meant he was too far back to challenge on the final lap.

Plato duly took the chequered flag 0.284 seconds ahead to take a victory that keeps him well in the hunt for series honours this year.

Eaves had little trouble keeping hold of his third position, with Vauxhall's Yvan Muller claiming fourth place ahead of Tom Chilton and Gavin Smith.

Pos  Driver            Make                   Time
 1.  Jason Plato       SEAT Toledo Cupra      22:35.695
 2.  Matt Neal         Honda Integra          +   0.284
 3.  Dan Eaves         Honda Integra          +   3.366
 4.  Yvan Muller       Vauxhall Astra Sport   +   4.672
 5.  Tom Chilton       Honda Civic Type-R     +   7.184
 6.  Gavin Smith       Vauxhall Astra Sport   +  11.872
 7.  Luke Hines        SEAT Toledo Cupra      +  11.959
 8.  Rob Collard       MG ZS                  +  12.976
 9.  James Pickford    SEAT Toledo Cupra      +  14.657
10.  Colin Turkington  Vauxhall Astra Sport   +  20.660
11.  James Kaye        Honda Civic Type-R     +  36.068
12.  Mark Proctor      Vauxhall Astra Coupe   +1:08.938
13.  Richard Williams  Lexus IS200            +   1 Lap