Thompson wins action-packed race

Thompson, driving the new SEAT Leon, passed pole-sitter and race-long leader Tom Chilton's Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch on the entry to Clearways with four laps to go to claim victory in an incident-packed race.

Chilton made a superb start from pole position, while fellow front row starter Jason Plato and SEAT teammate Thompson were ambushed by Colin Turkington's MG ZS and the fast-starting Vauxhalls of Gavin Smith and Fabrizio Giovanardi.

Following a brief safety car interruption to allow the Motorbase Performance Honda Integra-R of David Pinkney to be cleared from the grid, the trio ran nose-to-tail for the lead while a fierce battle for fourth featuring Plato, Thompson and Giovanardi raged.

Plato slipped past Giovanardi at Clark at the end of lap four, before the safety car was deployed to clear Mark Proctor's Honda Civic Type-R from the gravel.

At the restart, Plato and Smith collided at Clark, dropping Smith down the order and putting Plato out of the race after being collected by another car.

Thompson capitalised on the confusion to jump up to third with reigning champion Matt Neal, who started from the back of the grid after a brake failure in practice, in tow.

Thompson then dispatched Turkington with a forceful move up the inside into Clearways, and set about reeling in leader Chilton, who had opened up a cushion at the front while his pursuers scrapped for second.

After repulsing an attempt by Turkington to reclaim second, Thompson hunted down Chilton and capitalised on Chilton's slow run out of Graham Hill Bend to dive under him at Clearways.

Neal claimed the final podium position after diving up the inside of Turkington at Clearways on the last lap.

However, it was a mixed day for Team Dynamics, as new teammate Gordon Shedden was unable to take the start after suffering a broken throttle cable. Although he rejoined, he later retired with a recurrence of the same problem.

Former British GT Champion Mike Jordan claimed an impressive fifth in his Team Eurotech Honda Integra-R on his return to the BTCC after an absence of 17 years.

After passing Smith, Jordan struggled with chronic understeer as a legacy of his collision with Plato. He had earlier dispatched the second RAC-backed MG of Rob Collard.

Former independents and production champion James Kaye was a superb eighth in his Synchro Motorsport-prepared Honda Civic Type-R despite the car not having turned a wheel in 2006 prior to the dying minutes of Saturday's second practice session.

CLASSIFIED:

Pos  Driver               Make                        Time
 1.  James Thompson       SEAT Leon                   23:49.571
 2.  Tom Chilton          Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch  +   1.320
 3.  Matt Neal            Honda Integra               +   2.020
 4.  Colin Turkington     MG ZS                       +   2.646
 5.  Mike Jordan          Honda Integra               +   3.771
 6.  Gavin Smith          Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch  +   6.667
 7.  Robert Collard       MG ZS                       +   9.211
 8.  James Kaye           Honda Civic Type R          +  12.748
 9.  Jason Hughes         MG ZS                       +  20.236
10.  Martyn Bell          BMW 320i E46                +   1 Lap
11.  Mark Smith           Alfa Romeo 156              +   1 Lap

NOT CLASSIFIED:

     Driver               Make                        Laps
     Gordon Shedden       Honda Integra                12
     Fabrizio Giovanardi  Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch   10
     Jason Plato          SEAT Leon                    10
     Mark Proctor         Honda Civic Type R            3
     David Pinkney        Honda Integra                 0
     Fiona Leggate        Vauxhall Astra Coupe          0

Fastest lap: Chilton, 49.190 on lap 11