Jason Plato took a lights to flag victory in the first race of the day at Brands Hatch. SEAT Sport UK were 1-2 at the front in the early stages of the race, until Darren Turner pulled off the track on lap eight after an engine warning light came on inside his Leon.

Reigning champion Matt Neal happily inherited second position following Turner’s retirement, but will now be forced to wait until at least the third race of the day to be crowned champion for the second time, with Plato moving up to second in the championship.

The safety car was called into action almost as soon as the red lights went out for the start of the race. VX Racing driver Gavin Smith dived for a gap between Jason Hughes’ MG and Mike Jordan’s Honda, but the Astra Sport Hatch caught the front of Hughes’ car, which was enough to turn the Irishman into the wall. Hughes was able to continue, but Smith was stranded on the pit straight, forcing the deployment of the safety car at the end of the first lap.

It took five laps to clear the Astra off the track, but following the restart, Plato and Turner held on at the front, with Matt Neal lying third. Turner’s retirement came just a couple of laps later, promoting Neal to second and Gordon Shedden to third.

Slightly further back, the two remaining Astra Sport Hatches were coming under pressure. Tom Chilton was being challenged by Rob Collard, while Fabrizio Giovanardi struggled to keep Gareth Howell’s Integra behind him. Howell passed Giovanardi fairly quickly and then closed on Collard in sixth. Howell and Collard have form at Brands Hatch, but this was a relatively clean fight. It culminated just a few laps from the end of the race when the pair ran side by side through Paddock, Druids and Graham Hill Bend. Collard initially stayed in front, but then Howell nipped inside at Mclaren to take the inside line onto the straight. It looked like the Team Halfords driver had done enough to make the position his own. Unfortunately, his hard work was undone on the following lap when he spun off at Clearways, putting the back end of the car into the tyre barriers.

It was a poor end to the race for Gordon Shedden in the other Team Halfords Integra as well. He ran wide at Paddock on the final lap, losing third position in the process. A puncture caused a further spin before the end of the lap, and he eventually crossed the line in seventh.

Jason Plato was first past the chequered flag, ahead of Matt Neal. Colin Turkington benefited from Shedden’s last lap mishap to take third position, and score the first ever podium finish for a bio-ethanol powered car. Tom Chilton was fourth for Vauxhall, ahead of Rob Collard in the second Team RAC MG in fifth. Fabrizio Giovanardi finished sixth, with the recovering Gordon Shedden in seventh. Mike Jordan, Dave Pinkney and Paul O’Neill, on his return to the BTCC, completed the top ten.