Matt Neal emerged victorious from the final British Touring Car Championship race of the day at Donington Park, holding off Andrew Jordan on the final lap with Gordon Shedden in third.
In an enthralling end to the weekend’s proceedings, Neal grabbed the lead from Rob Collard with three laps to go and fended Jordan off in the closing moments to secure a second win – making him the first man to do so this season – which returned him the lead of the championship.
In stark contrast, the start of the race was a calm one as Collard took the lead from polesitter Josh Cook, with the pair pulling away from third-place man Jason Plato.
Cook though had been full of confidence all weekend and after stalking the BMW in the opening two laps, moved into the lead at the end of the third lap.
There was plenty of jostling behind the pair in the next four laps, but both Cook and Collard would have been aggrieved to see a safety car deployed having built a big lead, but with Sam Tordoff and Jack Goff in the barriers as a result of midfield bunching into the final chicane, officials were left with little choice.
Racing resumed on lap 11 and immediately Aron Smith – who had carved his way through the order in the opening laps – latched onto the rear of Collard’s BMW, feigning a move at the end of the straight before switching back and moving into second on the run through the Craner Curves.
Smith quickly turned his attentions to Cook’s lead, but the Power Maxed Racing driver – in just his sixth BTCC race – put up a stout defence of the position, as he covered off Smith’s attacks throughout the lap.
That was until lap 14, when Cook showed an inch of room to Smith who, with a better run down the curves, looked to have snatched the lead before leaning on Cook.
The pair both lost control and took to the grass down the hill, rejoining in the middle of a battle for what had been third place, between Collard, Neal, Jordan and Shedden.
The incident handed Collard the lead, but as he struggled on the soft tyres, Neal pounced and dived down the inside at the beginning of lap 17, with Jordan holding a slide as he tried to follow the Honda man through to claim second.
They finished in that order, with Neal claiming victory by 0.157s, while Shedden came out on top in a five-way fight for the final podium position.
Collard clung onto fourth – which completed a trio of top ten finishes – while Aiden Moffat put in a superb performance to finish fifth, in so doing achieving a maiden top-ten finish. Smith and Cook were sixth and seventh respectively after their contact, while Plato came home eighth.
With bunching throughout the order, Martin Depper kept his head to claim ninth – his best finish in the series – while Tom Ingram completed the top ten.
Alongside Goff and Tordoff, Andy Priaulx was not classified at the finish, having pitted on lap three with issues, while Dave Newsham and Rob Austin were late casualties.
Points scoring results:
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME/GAP | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 25 | M | Matt NEAL |  |
Honda Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 19 | 19 LAPS | 1:11.076 | 6 |
| 2 | 77 | M | Andrew JORDAN | |
MG 888 Racing | MG 6GT | 19 | 0.157 | 1:11.033 | 4 |
| 3 | 52 | M | Gordon SHEDDEN | |
Honda Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 19 | 1.038 | 1:10.539 | 14 |
| 4 | 6 | C | Rob COLLARD | |
Team JCT600 with GardX | BMW 125i M Sport | 19 | 3.563 | 1:10.767 | 2 |
| 5 | 16 | Aiden MOFFAT | |
Laser Tools Racing | Mercedes Benz A-Class | 19 | 3.613 | 1:10.575 | 16 | |
| 6 | 40 | Árón SMITH |  |
Team BMR | Volkswagen CC | 19 | 3.889 | 1:10.969 | 12 | |
| 7 | 66 | Josh COOK | |
Power Maxed Racing | Chevrolet Cruze | 19 | 4.035 | 1:10.902 | 1 | |
| 8 | 99 | Jason PLATO | |
Team BMR | Volkswagen CC | 19 | 6.542 | 1:11.594 | 3 | |
| 9 | 30 | Martin DEPPER | |
Eurotech Racing | Honda Civic | 19 | 7.515 | 1:10.946 | 19 | |
| 10 | 80 | Tom INGRAM | |
Speedworks Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 19 | 7.6 | 1:11.206 | 13 | |
| 11 | 1 | Colin TURKINGTON | |
Team BMR | Volkswagen CC | 19 | 8.582 | 1:11.462 | 7 | |
| 12 | 33 | Adam MORGAN | |
WIX Racing | Mercedes Benz A-Class | 19 | 8.772 | 1:11.408 | 5 | |
| 13 | 55 | Jeff SMITH | |
Eurotech Racing | Honda Civic | 19 | 11.162 | 1:10.832 | 15 | |
| 14 | 54 | Hunter ABBOTT | |
Exocet AlcoSense | Audi A4 | 19 | 12.057 | 1:11.203 | 17 | |
| 15 | 39 | Warren SCOTT | |
Team BMR | Volkswagen CC | 19 | 13.476 | 1:10.979 | 27 |