Jason Plato gained important points over championship rival Matt Neal in the first race of the day at Croft. It was Plato’s SEAT teammate James Thompson who led for most of the race, before allowing Plato through on the final lap.

Thompson led from the start, making a clean break from pole position. VX Racing’s Tom Chilton held on to second, with championship leader Matt Neal in third. Vauxhall’s Fabrizio Giovanadi made a sideways start to the race when he slide through Clervaux for the first time.

Matt Neal dropped down through the order on the second lap after slowing along the straight. He then found himself down in seventh, just behind Team RAC’s Rob Collard. This set the scene for the resumption of a battle that has spanned the first half of the season. Neal tailed Collard around the North Yorkshire circuit for a couple of laps, but almost inevitably, the contact soon started.

Neal made a move on Collard at Tower and the pair then battled into the Sunny turns. Collard managed to hold on to the position, and did so again when Neal challenged as the pair entered the start finish straight. The same happened a couple of laps later on the approach to Sunny In. Neal pushed Collard wide to the outside, before Collard returned the favour across to the other side of the track. Neal eventually found a way past at the hairpin.

Back at the front, Thompson continued to lead, but now from Fabrizio Giovanardi. Plato had made his way up to third position by lap ten, helped by visits to the pits by both Tom Chilton and Gordon Shedden – the latter after receiving the black and orange flag as a result of flailing rear bodywork.

Vauxhall have suffered with fading tyres in the closing stages of races throughout this season, and this one was no different. Fabrizio Giovanardi could not fend off Jason Plato, Matt Neal and the two Team RAC MGs, so slipped from second to sixth by the end of the race.

At the chequered flag, Plato took the win – his third of the season. Thompson was second, with Neal managing to climb back up to third. Colin Turkington passed teammate Rob Collard in the closing stages to pip him for fourth. Fabrizio Giovanardi ended the race sixth, ahead of Dave Pinkney and James Kaye. Gavin Smith and Eoin Murray, on his BTCC debut, rounded out the top ten.