Fabrizio Giovanardi made it two wins from two races to take the title right down the to the wire. The Vauxhall driver fended off the best efforts of championship rival Jason Plato to take victory in the penultimate race of the season. Giovanardi now trails Plato by just a single point going into round 30.

Having started the day with a win, Giovanardi was on pole for race two and made a quick getaway to lead Plato into the first corner. The SEAT was quickly up on the tail of the Vauxhall and Giovanardi was forced to defend into the chicane for the first time. Further down the order there was contact at the Complex between Erkut Kizilirmak, Matt Allison and Martyn Bell. It was enough to bring Allison’s race to an early close.

The lead pairing of Giovanardi and Plato found themselves ahead of Team Halfords duo Matt Neal and Shedden. Although Shedden’s challenge was cut short when he dropped down the order on lap four. Neal quickly closed on Plato to make it three fighting for the lead. The next few laps saw the gaps between first and third concertina as Giovanardi, Plato and Neal traded quicker laps.

Lap eight saw Neal and Plato run together along the pit straight, with Plato managing to keep the door shut on the inside line into the first corner. Giovanardi held onto his lead as the two behind him closed right up.

With the championship looming large, Plato decided it was time to make a move. On lap 14 he dived down the inside of Giovanardi on the run into the Complex. In another demonstration of exquisite car control, the Italian was able to catch his sliding Vectra and run across the grass to hold on to the lead of the race. Much to the delight of the bumper Thruxton crowd, the pair both stayed on the track to continue their battle.

There were no repeats of the first race tyre problems in the closing stages of this race and Giovanardi had done enough to take his tenth win of the season and set up a stunning final race decider.

Giovanardi, Plato and Neal took to the podium, along with top independent driver Colin Turkington, who finished the race in fourth position. Fifth was Mat Jackson, ahead of Alain Menu and Tom Coronel. Mike Jordan finished eighth, ahead of Tom Chilton and Tom Onslow-Cole. Darren Turner came home in 11th after starting from the back of the grid, ahead of Adam Jones, John George, Paul O’Neill, Rick Kerry and Martyn Bell.

Jason Plato said, “There’s one point in may favour, so every point is crucial now. It’s been great racing between the pair of us all year and it’s been a great battle. We’re now in a situation where the top seven is reversed…anything can happen now!”

The final race of the season is live on ITV1 this afternoon, getting underway at 16:20. The top seven finishers from race two will be reversed on the grid, handing pole position to SEAT’s Tom Coronel. Plato and Giovanardi will line up sixth and seventh respectively on the grid, with Plato holding just a single point advantage. It couldn’t be closer...