The Feature race at Croft can only be described as eventful, as the weather, choice of tactics, and luck all played their part in deciding the outcome of the race. The rain started to fall as the cars were being prepared on the grid, and teams had to decide whether to go for slick or treaded tyres. In the end, the conditions would worsen and wets were the way to go.

All of the Touring class teams opted to change to treaded tyres on the grid, as did the majority of Production teams. Exceptions included Pyper, Moen and Harrison, who chose slicks all round, and Howell and Jackson who went for slicks on the front and wets on the rear. However the two GR Motorsport Focus drivers opted to pit on the green flag lap to change to all wets, and therefore started the race from the pitane.

By the time the drivers entered the straight for the rolling start, conditions had become considerably worse and the rain was falling heavily. At the first corner, James Thompson led from Muller and Bennett, while Soper passed Plato to take fourth. However Soper's good work was undone when a mistake saw him run off the track and rejoin almost at the back of the field.

In the Production class it was Mark Lemmer who made the best start, moving from 6th on the grid to take the lead by the first corner. Jim Edwards Jnr moved in to second and Moen was third. The Ford Focus seemed to be very strong in the dismal conditions, as Richard Meins took an impressive third position away from Moen as the Peugeot 306 suffered from running on slick tyres. Mat Jackson and Gareth Howell made rapid progress as well, and it wasn't long before Howell was up behind team-mate Meins, and before long he was in front.

The Touring class drivers weren't finding the conditions easy either, and both Jason Plato and Phil Bennett took early trips off the track. However Bennett remained third ahead of Plato. Tommy Erdos showed the continuing strength of the Lexus by passing Dan Eaves to move fifth behind the Astras. Phil Bennett was the first to make his pitstop, followed by Plato. A combination of a slow in lap for Bennett and a slightly quicker stop from the Vauxhall Motorsport pit crew allowed Plato to emerge from his stop ahead of Bennett. James Thompson and Yvan Muller both made their stops shortly afterwards, followed by the two Peugeots.

It wasn't long after the Touring pitstops that safety car was called in to action…for the first time. Gavin Pyper had gone off the track at Tower and his car was left embedded in the ploughed field that makes up the infield there. The safety car was deemed necessary to control the pack while the Alfa Romeo was towed out. The order in the Touring class was very much unchanged at this point, but things were weren't quite so straightforward in the Production class however, with many of the usual frontrunners running a lap down after having to make a stop to change to treaded tyres. At the front though, Lemmer still led from Edwards and Howell.

As the safety car pitted and the race got under way again, the action continued. At the chicane, Phil Bennett ran wide, allowing Steve Soper to pass. Bennett then came together with both Soper and Ferrier, before trying to brake very late in to Church and running off again. These incidents, along with others that were alleged by other drivers, notably Tim Harvey, were deemed severe enough by the race officials to earn Bennett six points for his license, and as a result he will be forced to sit out the sprint race at Oulton Park. Bennett's last action of the afternoon was to go off in to the same area as Pyper had done earlier, bringing the safety car out for a second time.

For the restart this time around, Yvan Muller slowed the field right down going in to the straight, before leaving his rivals standing as he accelerated over the line. The Touring class was now reduced in size as both Soper and Harvey retired from the race during the safety car period. In the Production class, Jim Edwards Jnr took the lead from Mark Lemmer, and Lemmer was shortly forced to pit to clear his windscreen which had become completely misted up. Not much later, and it was time for the safety car once again, another casualty of the ploughed field, this time Paul O'Neill.

The race restarted (again) on lap 31 with four laps remaining. Again Muller was, but the real battle was now for the lead of the Production class, with Howell right up on Edwards Jnr, and the pair of them being followed by Jackson. It was Jackson who took up the charge with two and a half laps remaining however, as a mistake from Howell allowed his team-mate through. In the meantime Lemmer became the latest member of the 'Muddy field club', but to everyone's relief his car was adjudged to be far enough in not to warrant the safety car coming out yet again.

Going in to the final lap, Jackson was right behind Edwards Jnr, and as they approached the chicane, Edwards hit the tyre barrier, letting Jackson through, but amazingly he managed to literally bounce back on to the track and regain the lead as the Focus ran wide on the exit. Edwards held on to the line to take the first win for the INS sponsored team, ahead of three GR Motorsport Focuses, with Jackson, Howell and Meins finishing 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively.

Touring class victory was taken by ice cool Frenchman, Yvan Muller, by now an expert at controlling a field of cars from a race restart. Second was Jason Plato , with Thompson third. Muller now leads the championship by 3 points from Plato, with Thompson a further 21 adrift.

The action resumes in two weeks time as the series makes its second visit to Oulton Park in Cheshire.

Results:

1  Yvan Muller      T Vauxhall Astra Coupe   1hr04m53.252s
2  Jason Plato      T Vauxhall Astra Coupe 
3  James Thompson   T Vauxhall Astra Coupe 
4  Thomas Erdos     T Lexus IS200 
5  Dan Eaves        T Peugeot Coupe 
6  Jim Edwards Jnr  P Honda Accord 
7  Mat Jackson      P Ford Focus 
8  Gareth Howell    P Ford Focus 
9  Richard Meins    P Ford Focus
10 James Kaye       P Honda Accord 

Full results and driver quotes to follow.