Colin Turkington scored the first win of the year for Team RAC in round 10 at Croft, making the rear-wheel drive advantage of his BMW 320si pay off the startline. Turkington started second on the grid, but got the better of polesitter Gordon Shedden on the run into the first corner.

Shedden found himself in third position, with teammate Matt Neal also squeezing past. Tom Onslow-Cole gained a place from the start, moving up to fourth, while SEAT’s Darren Turner was the biggest loser, dropping from third to fifth.

Turkington had to defend from Neal early on, as the Team Halfords driver drew alongside the BMW exiting the hairpin for the first time. The pair ran side-by-side along the main straight, but Turkington was able to hang on as they went through Clervaux on lap two. In the second BMW, Onslow-Cole couldn’t defend in quite the same way, and was passed by Darren Turner.

On the following lap, Onslow-Cole’s attention turned to defending from Vauxhall’s Fabrizio Giovanardi, until the BMW was forced into the pits with a right rear puncture. Further down the order, Matt Allison’s race came to a premature end in his SEAT Toledo Cupra, after he collected a tyre barrier that had been dislodged in front of him.

“I’m extremely gutted”, said Allison after retiring to the pits. “I was minding my own business when all of a sudden the tyres came across the track in front of me. One of the cars in front had hit them on their way through. I tried to avoid them, but I couldn’t. It’s done quite a lot of damage to the car.”

At the front it was still Turkington leading from Neal and Shedden, until that is, Tom Onslow-Cole’s eventful race continued. After changing his punctured tyre, he rejoined the track right behind Turkington. Matt Neal, clearly frustrated by Onslow-Cole’s presence, made a dive down the inside of the BMW at the hairpin, making contact and allowing Gordon Shedden back into second spot.

The remaining laps passed without any major incidents, allowing Turkington to relatively cruise to the chequered flag. Shedden finished second for the second time this year, while Matt Neal made it two out of the three podium spots for Team Halfords. Darren Turner finished fourth, ahead of Mike Jordan.

In the battle for the lead of the championship, Fabrizio Giovanardi gained a point on leader Jason Plato, with the pair finishing sixth and seventh respectively. Both ran heavy with ballast for race one, but will lose the lead the second race. Tom Chilton and Mat Jackson finished eighth and ninth, with Gareth Howell rounding out the top ten