Matt Neal needed to outscore Jason Plato by eight points in the final race of the day if he wanted to be provisionally crowned 2006 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Champion at Brands Hatch. However, it wasn’t to be for Neal. Instead, it was just the second pointless race of the year for the Team Halfords driver.

Tom Chilton and Fabrizio Giovanardi made it an all Vauxhall front row for round 27 and it was Chilton who led the race at the first corner. Giovanardi lost out to Gordon Shedden, despite trying to squeeze the Scot along the straight.

There was contact between Dave Pinkney and Chris Stockton on the run up to Druids for the first time. Stockton was a little too fast into Paddock and clipped the kerb on the inside, sending him hopping into the side of Pinkney’s Integra. It was enough to damage the front left corner of the Lexus, ripping the wheel of and leaving both cars stranded halfway up the hill.

A third appearance of the day for the safety car was in order as the marshals worked to recover the damaged cars. It took them six laps to move both cars, but the action resumed quickly following the restart, with Jason Plato challenging Matt Neal on the inside at Druids.

Druids was also the scene for Fabrizio Giovanardi’s pass on Gordon Shedden a couple of laps later. The Astra driver went to the inside of Shedden at the hairpin to move up to second.

Giovanardi then closed on teammate Chilton at the front, and the top six were running together as the race went into the final five laps. Chilton was holding up the rest, but looked to have the edge on Giovanardi, despite running wide on the exit from Druids a couple of times.

Chilton was unable to hang on to take his first win as a Vauxhall driver, when he slid sideways at Clearways, opening the door for Giovanardi to ease through into the lead.

There was even more drama to follow during the last couple of laps of the race, and it again involved Tom Chilton. Matt Neal was on the inside line heading up to Druids, but he was a little over-ambitious, perhaps with a slight helping hand from Jason Plato behind. Neal caught the side of Chilton’s Astra and rode up over the front right corner, landing in the gravel trap on the outside of the corner with no way out.

“Unusually when there’s something like that it wasn’t my car that emerged out of the smoke unscathed”, said Neal following the incident.

When the dust settled, Giovanardi took his second win in as many meetings, with Gordon Shedden trailing him in second and Plato in third. Former teammates Colin Turkington and Gareth Howell were fourth and fifth respectively. Rob Collard finished sixth, Mike Jordan was seventh and Chilton, Jason Hughes and Gavin Smith completed the points scoring positions.

Paul O’Neill finished in 11th, making it three strong performances on his return to the series. “It’s been great”, said O’Neill. “I’ve had a mega weekend. Everyone’s been great. Of course I want to be faster, but I just can’t believe how quick the Hondas and the works Astras are. I’m just pleased to be racing again.”

The action heads to Silverstone for the final rounds of the season over the weekend of 14/15 October.