Matt Neal won the third British Touring Car Championship race of the day at Brands Hatch ahead of Jack Goff and Árón Smith.
Neal’s win was Honda’s second of the day, after Gordon Shedden’s race two triumph, but the three-time champion was made to work for the result after coming under sustained pressure from Goff in the closing stages of the race.
As the race started, polesitter Rob Austin leapt off the line as Neal jumped in front of Goff in his MG, before a safety car was required to remove the stricken car of Rob Collard, who went off at Paddock Hill , as well as debrief from a collision between Derek Palmer, Stewart Lines and Kieran Gallagher which also held up Jason Plato.
Race two winner Gordon Shedden had struggled off the line and found himself in 15th place under the safety car, although that became 14th when Josh Cook pulled off at the side of the track.
Cook’s demise extended the caution period, but as the field prepared to go racing again, Shedden himself was forced to pull into the pitlane which took him out of contention for the remainder of the afternoon.
Racing resumed on lap seven and Goff immediately began to push Neal for his then second place. A lap down the line, and Turkington span between Surtees and McLaren as he pushed to improve, while Andrew Jordan made a clean pass on Tom Ingram on the pit straight.
Smith, having started in 12th, was on a charge and overtook Andy Priaulx on the exit of Druids as Jason Plato continued his charge from the back of the field.
At the front, Austin had been holding his ground but was gradually caught by the Honda of Neal, who got alongside the team owner and driver at the start of lap 21 and took the lead of the race, with Goff also passing Austin into Druids.
Andrew Jordan, having overtaken Sam Tordoff earlier, fancied a piece of the action as well but after working a gap, forced both himself and Austin into the gravel on the exit of Clearways, allowing Smith and Tordoff into fourth and fifth. Although Austin recovered to fifth, Jordan was forced to pit immediately with a puncture and finished the race outside of the points.
That left Neal on the soft tyres and Goff to fight it out for victory, but although the latter feigned a couple of overtakes to warn his opponent, Neal managed his tyre situation well to win by 0.196s, with Smith coming home in a comfortable and impressive third place.
With Tordoff fourth and Austin fifth, Ingram completed a successful weekend with another sensible run to sixth, ahead of Adam Morgan. Priaulx and Dave Newsham moved up to eighth and ninth respectively on the final lap, as Austin’s teammate Hunter Abbott dropped two positions to tenth before pulling up in his Audi A4.
There was a maiden points finish for Mike Bushell in a strong 11th, while Turkington recovered to 12th with Plato dropping out of the points to 16th towards the end of the race. Simon Belcher also scored a first point in 15th, while Alex Martin had been on for a points finish before retiring six laps from the finish.
The next round of the British Touring Car Championship takes place in two weeks’ time at Donington Park.
Top ten result
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME/GAP | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 25 | M | Matt NEAL |  |
Honda Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 27 | 25:10.270 | 49.140 | 3 |
| 2 | 31 | M | Jack GOFF | |
MG 888 Racing | MG 6GT | 27 | 0.196 | 49.170 | 2 |
| 3 | 40 | Árón SMITH |  |
Team BMR | Volkswagen CC | 27 | 1.706 | 49.015 | 12 | |
| 4 | 7 | C | Sam TORDOFF | |
Team JCT600 with GardX | BMW 125i M Sport | 27 | 4.553 | 49.343 | 4 |
| 5 | 101 | Rob AUSTIN | |
Exocet AlcoSense | Audi A4 | 27 | 4.719 | 49.359 | 1 | |
| 6 | 80 | Tom INGRAM | |
Speedworks Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 27 | 5.662 | 49.197 | 5 | |
| 7 | 33 | Adam MORGAN | |
WIX Racing | Mercedes Benz A-Class | 27 | 7.537 | 49.256 | 7 | |
| 8 | 111 | C | Andy PRIAULX | |
Team IHG Rewards Club | BMW 125i M Sport | 27 | 8.825 | 49.331 | 9 |
| 9 | 17 | Dave NEWSHAM | |
Power Maxed Racing | Chevrolet Cruze | 27 | 8.909 | 49.447 | 15 | |
| 10 | 54 | Hunter ABBOTT | |
Exocet AlcoSense | Audi A4 | 27 | 9.157 | 49.309 | 11 |