Jason Plato won an entertaining final British Touring Car Championship race of the day at Rockingham, ahead of an impressive Tom Ingram in second and Colin Turkington in third.
Plato overtook Ingram towards the end of extended race after a valiant defence from the Speedworks driver, who nevertheless hung on for a thoroughly deserved maiden podium in the championship.
Starting from pole, Ingram made a cautious getaway but held his lead on the run to Deene, with Plato diving up the inside of team-mate Turkington as Jack Goff was fired off.
Plato quickly latched on to the rear of Ingram’s Toyota and made his first move for the lead up the inside into Deene, only for Ingram to hold on around the outside.
Things settled down after that moment, before a safety car was deployed when Hunter Abbott and Mike Bushell made contact on the exit of Deene, the latter ending his race in the gravel.
Plato made an immediate lunge for the lead when the race restarted on lap 10 only for Ingram to hold on around the outside once more, and while Plato looked to have a pass sealed when he held a lead through Yentwood on lap 12, he was caught by surprise as Ingram set up a move through Pif Paf, reclaiming the lead on the run to Tarzan.
Team BMR driver Plato was eventually able to make a move stick two laps later as he blocked off Ingram’s exit through Deene, before eking out a slight advantage.
Things were made interesting when with four laps to go a second safety car was deployed to recover the stricken Eurotech Honda Civic of Jeff Smith, leaving a two-lap sprint to the finish.
The order remained the same to the flag, however, with Plato winning his fifth race of the season by 1.234s as Ingram eventually settled for second despite his best efforts.
With Turkington third, Matt Neal enjoyed a solid to his weekend with fourth ahead of a charging Sam Tordoff. Aron Smith looked as though he might fight through to the front early on but was eventually forced to settle for sixth with Rob Austin in seventh.
Championship leader Gordon Shedden took eighth, while Andrew Jordan and Josh Cook completed the top ten.
There was also a maiden points’ finish for Alex Martin, who came home 13th in his Dextra Racing Ford Focus.
Points scoring result
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME/GAP | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 99 | Jason PLATO |  |
Team BMR RCIB Insurance | Volkswagen CC | 19 | 29:22.424 | 1:23.444 | 4 | |
| 2 | 80 | Tom INGRAM | |
Speedworks Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 19 | 1.234 | 1:23.584 | 1 | |
| 3 | 1 | Colin TURKINGTON | |
Team BMR RCIB Insurance | Volkswagen CC | 19 | 1.871 | 1:23.524 | 3 | |
| 4 | 25 | M | Matt NEAL | |
Honda Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 19 | 4.838 | 1:23.758 | 6 |
| 5 | 7 | C | Sam TORDOFF | |
Team JCT600 with GardX | BMW 125i M Sport | 19 | 5.264 | 1:24.400 | 14 |
| 6 | 40 | Árón SMITH |  |
Team BMR RCIB Insurance | Volkswagen CC | 19 | 5.830 | 1:24.153 | 11 | |
| 7 | 101 | Rob AUSTIN | |
Exocet AlcoSense | Audi A4 | 19 | 6.212 | 1:24.275 | 5 | |
| 8 | 52 | M | Gordon SHEDDEN | |
Honda Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 19 | 8.450 | 1:24.549 | 10 |
| 9 | 77 | M | Andrew JORDAN | |
MG 888 Racing | MG 6GT | 19 | 9.810 | 1:24.632 | 12 |
| 10 | 66 | Josh COOK | |
Power Maxed Racing | Chevrolet Cruze | 19 | 10.309 | 1:24.501 | 8 | |
| 11 | 30 | Martin DEPPER | |
Eurotech Racing | Honda Civic | 19 | 13.013 | 1:24.357 | 18 | |
| 12 | 8 | C | Nick FOSTER | |
Team IHG Rewards Club | BMW 125i M Sport | 19 | 14.094 | 1:24.788 | 16 |
| 13 | 14 | Alex MARTIN | |
Dextra Racing | Ford Focus | 19 | 14.647 | 1:24.964 | 26 | |
| 14 | 4 | Mat JACKSON | |
Motorbase Performance | Ford Focus | 19 | 14.984 | 1:23.599 | 9 | |
| 15 | 44 | James COLE | |
Motorbase Performance | Ford Focus | 19 | 18.021 | 1:24.545 | 17 |