Jason Plato headed an MG 1-2 in a damp first British Touring Car Championship race of the day at Donington Park, with team-mate Sam Tordoff just 0.442 seconds behind at the finish.
The win was Plato’s first at the circuit for six years, and he now sits second in the championship, two points behind Andrew Jordan who claimed the final podium spot.
Rain early in the day had made the track greasy with every driver electing to start on wet tyres, despite the weather clearing. Colin Turkington made a typically slick getaway and jumped into second off the line as Plato closed the door, but Tordoff reclaimed the position down into the Craner Curves while Gordon Shedden snatched third later round the lap.
A tight start to the race saw Warren Scott and Hunter Abbott eliminated after a collision in the pack, with the pair sliding into the gravel, out of the firing line.
From there Plato and Tordoff were in a league of their own, romping away at the front with only each other to compete with. Tordoff followed his more experienced teammate closely to the flag, but never had a clear-cut chance to take the lead.
After being passed by Shedden, Turkington hounded the Scot for some time but was unable to pass the Civic Tourer driver, as Jordan and Rob Collard closed in on the pair. Turkington lunged past Collard into Redgate on lap six, while Jordan followed through immediately and Collard made a move at Starkey’s to claim fifth.
The next lap round the reigning champion grabbed third from Turkington, with Collard getting a better run off the corner to also pass his Northern Irish teammate down the hill. Collard had earlier been the fastest of the quartet, but he had to settle for fourth by the chequered flag, 1.6 seconds behind Jordan.
Turkington and Shedden held station from there, with the best action of the race behind them for the remaining points positions.
Fabrizio Giovanardi finally had something to cheer about as he claimed seventh, passing the ailing Matt Neal on lap 12 with the three-times champion just holding off Aron Smith for eighth, with Tom Ingram beating Marc Hynes to claim a third top-ten finish in his four races to date in the series.
The mid-pack had been highly congested throughout the race, but the positions eventually petered out somewhat. Dave Newsham claimed twelfth, but could have been in the top ten had he not suffered a spin after contact with Adam Morgan on lap two, before dragging his Ford Focus through the chicane at the end of the lap.
Alain Menu had a disappointing race after dropping six places from his sixth-placed grid slot to finish in thirteenth, while Mat Jackson and Lea Wood claimed the final two points paying positions as the pair battered their way past the likes of Adam Morgan, Nick Foster and Jack Goff in the closing laps. Glynn Geddie had been on course for his first points in the series, but he dropped to 17th on the last lap.
Rob Austin was the only driver who made the call to switch to slick tyres and the move gained him a point as he set the fastest lap of the race, but a lenghty pit stop cost him two laps as he finished last of the runners.
Top ten result
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | |
| 1 | 99 | M | Jason PLATO |  |
MG KX Clubcard Fuel Save | MG6 | 16 | 21:13.030 | 1:17.928 | 1 |
| 2 | 88 | M | Sam TORDOFF | |
MG KX Clubcard Fuel Save | MG6 | 16 | 0.442 | 1:17.707 | 3 |
| 3 | 1 | I | Andrew JORDAN | |
Pirtek Racing | Honda Civic | 16 | 6.398 | 1:18.040 | 7 |
| 4 | 10 | I | Rob COLLARD | |
eBay Motors | BMW 125i M Sport | 16 | 7.943 | 1:17.958 | 13 |
| 5 | 5 | I | Colin TURKINGTON | |
eBay Motors | BMW 125i M Sport | 16 | 16.094 | 1:19.322 | 4 |
| 6 | 52 | M | Gordon SHEDDEN | |
Honda Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Tourer | 16 | 16.277 | 1:17.940 | 2 |
| 7 | 7 | I | Fabrizio GIOVANARDI |  |
Airwaves Racing | Ford Focus | 16 | 21.342 | 1:18.226 | 11 |
| 8 | 4 | M | Matt NEAL | |
Honda Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Tourer | 16 | 23.015 | 1:18.897 | 9 |
| 9 | 40 | I | Árón SMITH |  |
CHROME Edition Restart Racing | Volkswagen Passat CC | 16 | 23.82 | 1:18.557 | 5 |
| 10 | 80 | I | Tom INGRAM | |
Speedworks Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 16 | 25.284 | 1:19.119 | 12 |