Jason Plato triumphed in the final Dunlop MSA British Touring Car race of the day at Rockingham following another bruising encounter that again made mere survival the key to a good result.

A total of 14 cars reached the finish this time – a slight improvement on the 12 that completed the second race -, with Plato making the most of a stunning start off the line to get into the right position when John George, Jason Hughes and David Pinkney all managed to throw their top three starting positions away into the hairpin when they came together.

From here Plato never looked back, the championship leader heading home Mat Jackson, who in turn collected his second podium of the day in what has been another marvellous performance for the BTCC debutant. Darren Turner meanwhile was a rather disgruntled third following a day playing catch-up thanks to his problems in the first race.

Vauxhall filled positions four and five, Tom Chilton this time leading race one and two winner Fabrizio Giovanardi, the Italian withstanding intense pressure from the recovering Hondas of Gordon Shedden and Matt Neal towards the end of the race, the Scot surprisingly getting the better of his team-mate with a late lunge to grab sixth.

Mike Jordan claimed eighth following a Herculean effort by his Team Eurotech for getting his Honda Integra ready with mere seconds to go before the start of the race, while Matt Allison scored two points for ninth and Simon Blanckley grabbed his first BTCC point in tenth place having embarked on a race long duel with Erkut Kizilirmak.