After winning race one, James Thompson lined up on pole position for the second race of the day at Brands Hatch, with Tom Chilton alongside him in second. Chilton’s VX Racing teammate, Fabrizio Giovanardi, only just made the grid as the team battled to repair the damage sustained to his Astra Sport Hatch in the first race.

As the lights went out, Thompson made a strong start, as did fourth on the grid Colin Turkington. The pair led the Team Halfords Honda of Matt Neal into Paddock Hill Bend for the first time. Meanwhile, there was drama at Druids as Tom Chilton ran wide and Martyn Bell span in the Geoff Steel Racing BMW.

Lap two and the top four of Thompson, Turkington, Neal and Smith were all running close together on the track. Also going well was Thompson’s teammate Jason Plato, who was already up to ninth from the back of the grid.

Turkington really started to put Thompson under pressure at the front on lap three, but just could not find a way past the SEAT. At the same time, Gordon Shedden passed Tom Chilton to move up to seventh, just behind the second Team RAC MG of Rob Collard.

The top five on lap five was Thompson, Turkington, Neal, Gavin Smith and the impressive Mike Jordan. Over the following laps, Jordan put Smith under considerable pressure, and before long, the pair were joined by Shedden and Plato.

Past half-distance in the race and Thompson was starting to ease away at the front as Matt Neal closed on Turkington in second. The top three would continue to race closely through to the chequered flag, but without any changes in the order on track.

Behind the leaders, the battle was hotting up for places four to seven. Gavin Smith held onto his advantage, but there was contact between Shedden, Plato and Jordan at Paddock Hill Bend on lap 19, which resulted in retirement for both Integras. Plato dropped a place, but managed to find a way back past Rob Collard to finish the race in fifth.

Racewinner James Thompson said, “The car was fantastic throughout the race, although the weight penalty really hurt because I had to drive flat out all the way to the chequered flag. It certainly wasn’t an easy win by any means”.