Mat Jackson has won the third of today’s three HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship rounds at the Snetterton circuit in Norfolk.

BMW Dealer Team UK's Jackson led every lap to fend off fellow BMW driver Steven Kane who gave an ecstatic Motorbase team its best-ever result in the BTCC so far.

Third was reigning champion Fabrizio Giovanardi in his Vauxhall Vectra VXR. As a result, Giovanardi has extended his championship lead over team-mate Matt Neal to 34 points as the BTCC next heads to the Oulton Park circuit in Cheshire on Sunday 27 July.

The race was a disaster for Jason Plato who had won the day’s first two races. He retired in the pit lane with a rare mechanical problem with his SEAT Leon TDI. Having briefly held second in the standings after race two, he leaves Snetterton back in third ahead of Jackson in fourth.

Giovanardi said: “It was looking like Jason was going to come away from today a lot closer to me in the championship, but fortunately for me he had problems in race three and I could take the third place. Four race meetings to go; 12 races. I still have a nice lead but it is important to keep up the pace – I know the others will be ready to take any opportunities they can.”

Meanwhile, completing the top six were Giovanardi's team-mates Neal and Onslow-Cole and Team RAC BMW driver Colin Turkington who now enjoys a 15-point lead in the Independents championship ahead of Jackson and previous leader Adam Jones.

Tom Chilton (Team Halfords Honda Civic), Jones (Team Air Cool SEAT Leon), Stephen Jelley (RAC BMW) and Robert Collard (Motabase BMW), who had held fourth position at one spot, rounded out the top ten.

Elsewhere, it was a race to forget for several notable runners: Plato's team-mate Darren Turner also hit mechanical problems and, after making a pit stop, finished a lap down in 17th; Gordon Shedden (Halfords Honda), who had challenged Kane for second in the early stages, pitted and retired after running wide off the track; and father and son Mike and Andrew Jordan (John Guest Honda Integras) were both out within four laps of the start.