Jason Plato stuck the nose of his Seat Leon into the lead in the third BTCC race at Thruxton and kept it there – despite a robust attack from an unlikely source: Andrew Jordan’s Honda Intergra.
Plato hit the lead at the expense of Gordon Sheddon, who lost his early advantage due to a puncture just as he had in the first race.
Jordan kept Plato honest until Mat Jackson and Fabrizi Giovanardi caught up with him. Jordan got past him and Giovanardi nuded the Honda wide at the final chicane. Jordan smartly dodged around the run-off area and clung on to third place ahead of Giovanardi – but relinquished it a lap later when he coasted into the pits with a car problem.
That promoted Matt Neal to fourth behind his team mate, followed by Adam Jones. Colin Turkington persevered in a long battle with Tom Onslow-Cole to take sixth, with Mike Jordan eighth, Steven Kane ninth and Harry Vaulkhard tenth scoring his first points in the Chevrolet.