Fabrizio Giovanardi put in an impressive run through the field to win race two at Donington Park, after starting eighth on the grid. The VX Racing driver extended his lead in the championship, as Jason Plato finished second. Tom Onslow-Cole made it two Vauxhall drivers on the podium by finishing third.

There was a confusing start to the race after Andrew Jordan stalled on the grid. The ‘delayed start’ board was displayed and then the pack headed off on a second green flag lap. Or so you would think. Instead of the green flag being waved, the red lights came on and the race got underway, much to the surprise of many of the drivers. Slowest away of the front-runners was Matt Neal from second on the grid.

Rain was starting to fall at Donington as race two got underway. It could never be described as anything more than drizzle, but it was enough to make the track even more slippery than usual. A combination of slippery track and surprise at starting the race combined to create a collision at the first corner. Martyn Bell, Alan Taylor and Stuart Oliver all ended up in a pile at Redgate, which led to an early safety car period.

Gordon Shedden found himself leading the race, with Jason Plato and Fabrizio Giovanardi behind him. Giovanardi was on the ball at the start, jumping up from eighth on the grid to third. The rain was starting to cause more trouble while the safety car was on track, affecting the rear-wheel drive BMWs in particular. Colin Turkington, Mat Jackson and Steven Kane all pitted to put on wet tyres, but none were able to feature strongly in the race as the rain remained light enough for the rest of the pack to run on slicks.

Following the restart, the slippery track caught out Gordon Shedden at the old hairpin – the Team Halfords driver running wide, allowing Jason Plato to take the lead of the race. Fabrizio Giovanardi also made the most of the Scot’s mistake, moving up to third. In his ballast-free Vectra, Giovanardi once again showed his skill in on a slippery track, passing Plato to take the lead through the Craner Curves next time round.

It was starting to look like a strong result could be on the cards for Vauxhall. As Giovanardi led the race, Matt Neal and Tom Onslow-Cole were running fourth and fifth respectively, piling the pressure on Gordon Shedden in third. Neal found a way past his former Halfords teammate on lap nine and then a gentle nudge from Onslow-Cole sent the orange Civic across the gravel at the old hair pin on the following lap, dropping Shedden down to eighth.

By mid-race, the leaders found themselves lapping the wet-shod BMWs. The rain was still falling, and the track was still slippery, but it was the slick-running front-wheel drive cars that were setting the pace. With six laps remaining Giovanardi and Plato looked comfortable in first and second respectively. Tom Onslow-Cole claimed third spot when he passed fellow Vauxhall driver Neal on the way into the chicane. SEAT’s Darren Turner sensed an opportunity to follow Onslow-Cole, but Neal carefully closed the door to hold on to fourth. Turner got his way on the following lap though, with an impressive move around the outside at the old hairpin.

Neal’s race got worse in the closing stages, when he was tagged by Tom Chilton, sending him off the track and into the tyres under the Starkeys bridge. Neal may have been out, but Vauxhall still took the win courtesy of Giovanardi. Jason Plato complimented his earlier win with second place, ahead of Onslow-Cole. Darren Turner finished fourth, ahead of Tom Chilton, Andrew Jordan and Adam Jones. Chris Stockton, Gordon Shedden and Jason Hughes rounded out the top ten.

Following the race, Fabrizio Giovanardi commented, “I enjoy this kind of conditions. We had the same in 2006 when I got my first win. I was ready for that at the start. When the others were pushing the limits in the first few laps, I knew that was my chance. It’s fantastic.”