Local man, and BTCC debutant, Gordon Shedden led the race on lap 2, passing James Kaye, with Team Kaliber Sport team-mate Simon Graves in third. The Touring class also remained closely packed, with Tom Ferrier's Alfa Romeo 147 being the only car to drop back from the pack at that stage.

By lap 6, GR Motorsport Ford Focuses occupied three of the top six positions, with Shedden still leading and Mat Jackson and Gareth Howell in 5th and 6th places respectively. Annie Templeton made an early retirement, with her smoking car limping off the track at the back of the circuit.

Tommy Erdos found himself in fourth position on lap 8, after Steve Soper and Phil Bennett came together, forcing Soper out of the race, and Bennett down to sixth, with bodywork damage to his Astra Coupe.

By lap 10 the Peugeot 306 of Simon Harrison was beginning to catch on to the back of Simon Graves, but at the front Gordon Shedden was easing away. At the same time, Tom Boardman and Rob Collard were enjoying yet another scrap. By this point, the Astra Coupes of Plato, Muller and Thompson were making their way through the Production class field.

Gareth Howell passed team-mate Mat Jackson on lap 11, only for both to retire from the race a short while after. The problems being a broken drive shaft for Howell and broken suspension for Jackson.

Dan Eaves suffered a continuation of his misfortune, going straight on at the end of the start-finish straight and ending in contact with the tyre barrier. This followed on from the fire which broke out in his car in qualifying.

By lap 16, Jason Plato and co had caught the lead group of Production cars, now with Simon Graves ahead of Shedden. Production class battles continued throughout the field, with Boardman and Pyper, who was forced to start from the back of the grid after another engine change, tussling, and Paul O'Neill and Rick Kraemer also putting on a show.

At the chequered flag it was Simon Graves who took the outright race victory, with Plato in second just 6/100 of a second ahead of Gordon Shedden.

James Thompson: "It wasn't the best race to be honest with you. I had a slight brake problem on lap 1. I couldn't generate enough pressure in the front brakes. Whether we had a slight fluid leak or not, I'm not sure, but I had to drop back as it was becoming too much of a problem."

Yvan Muller: "My start wasn't perfect, but it was better than Jason's. I knew it would be tough to stay ahead of Jason, and in the end he got past. I had one contact with Jimmy, but not a contact that I'm worried about. I struggled at the end with the brakes - I can't put the speed down from the corners."

Jason Plato: "I knew I had the pace to beat Yvan. Whatever the reason, we've just managed to hook things up this weekend. I stretched my legs as much as possible when I was in front so I had a gap for when we came to the backmarkers. I'm dead chuffed."

Simon Harrison: "I was so cross that I didn't have pole. My race lap was even quicker than my qualifying lap. But what matters is the Championship. I wasn't going to catch Graves because he was flying. I wasn't going to catch Shedden so thirds cool."

Simon Graves: "I had a feeling the car would be good, but we didn't really show the potential in qualifying or practice. The car improves as the race goes on. I was behind James for several laps but I was getting quicker than him all the time. I knew there was a possibility of winning the race, so I had to pass him and get on an after Shedden."