Fabrizio Giovanardi has won the third of today’s HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship rounds at the Croft circuit in North Yorkshire.

Reigning champion Giovanardi, starting from third on the grid, spent the opening laps trapped behind the impressive Robert Collard's Motorbase BMW but once past was never headed.

The Italian also set the race’s fastest lap to score a bonus point which has given him a commanding 23-point championship lead over team-mate Matt Neal who finished the race in third.

Splitting the two Vauxhall drivers was the independent Team Air Cool SEAT Leon of Adam Jones – equalling his best-ever previous result of second.

Jones had forced his way into second with a perfectly-judged move past Collard at Sunny In. Collard was momentarily delayed and, as he attempted to fall back into line, his car was swiped by Mike Jordan's following John Guest Honda Integra.

Collard managed just one more lap before retiring with accident damage. Jordan would also retire later after running off the track and damaging his car while fending off Neal for third.

Indeed, the race was full of incident and only 13 finishers made it across the line. As Jordan ran off the track, hero of race two Mat Jackson was momentarily delayed in his BMW 320si which allowed Tom Chilton's Team Halfords Honda Civic to pass him for what was an eventual fourth place finish.

SEAT drivers Jason Plato and Darren Turner both came to grief in contact with other drivers. Plato's Leon TDI rode high up the side of Colin Turkington's Team RAC BMW 320si and thereafter trailed around at the tail of the field. Turkington, the winner of the day's opening two races, was able to recover and finish eighth. Turner, meanwhile, went out shortly after a safety car period in a tangle with Jackson at the opening bend, Clervaux.

The safety car period had been required after Martyn Bell's Arkas Racing with Sunshine.co.uk Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch had become stranded at Tower corner and John George's TH Motorsport/JAG Honda Integra had crashed heavily into the barriers exiting the daunting Jim Clark Esses.

The BTCC now takes a six-week break before returning for the start to the second half of its season at the Snetterton circuit in Norfolk on Sunday 13 July.