Race 3: Reid makes it two

Reid battled his way through from seventh on the grid and took advantage of poleman Jason Plato's stern defence of the lead in his heavily ballasted SEAT early on. He executed a breathtaking pass on Yvan Muller to take third place on lap eight, then later on, once past the struggling Plato, did the same thing to Eaves to secure the victory.

"Winning that third race was fantastic," Reid said afterwards. "I can't describe the feeling I have at the moment. I am so delighted for the team. The MG may be a privately-run car but it is so quick at the moment. I love overtaking Yvan Muller and I'm sure I don't have to explain why.

"He didn't quite expect it and I dived from very late. But he is a professional driver and by the time he saw me coming he couldn't lane change and he knew I was coming through. So he gave me the space and I have to thank him for that."

Being gentlemanly didn't pay for the French driver later on though as he was punted down to ninth place during a massive dice for third that included his Vauxhall team-mate James Thompson (who like Turkington, had also stormed through the field) and the SEAT drivers Plato and Robert Huff.

This battle raged right to the end of the race with Turkington joining in as they all slowed each other down. Plato's tyres really started to go off in the last five laps and Turkington, with superior grip, began picking off those in front of him with precision. Finally he took third place from Thompson, who by now had more rear-end damage from Plato, on the penultimate lap.

Huff finished fifth ahead of Luke Hines who passed Plato on the finish line. Matt Neal was eighth, another who struggled with success ballast ahead of Muller, whose championship lead over Thompson has been reduced to a single point.

"It's been a bit like a demolition derby this weekend, what with qualifying and the second race," said Thompson, who considering the state of his car, was outstanding in the third race. "It's been a real rollercoaster of emotion. I snatched the lead of the championship after the first race which went really well for us. Then the second race was a real low.

"The car's in a bit of state. I don't think we will be using this chassis again it's so badly damaged. The damage after the second race, we knew there was some bent bits and pieces, that we couldn't straighten out, so the guys did a fantastic job, considering the state it was in.

"I'm really pleased that we limited the damage somewhat otherwise it could have been disastrous for the championship."

Anthony Reid MG 20m35.343s
Dan Eaves Honda 20m36.665s
Colin Turkington MG 20m42.822s
James Thompson Vauxhall 20m43.260s
Robert Huff SEAT 20m44.023s
Luke Hines Vauxhall 20m45.477s
Jason Plato SEAT 20m45.511s
Matt Neal Honda 20m49.575s
Yvan Muller Vauxhall 20m49.972s
Shaun Watson-Smith Proton 20m51.827s