Title rivals up close and personal

This is the dramatic moment that fans of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship had been waiting for all season until today’s third race at Snetterton: title rivals Jason Plato and Fabrizio Giovanardi going wheel to wheel for glory.

Bizarrely, SEAT driver Plato and Vauxhall’s Italian ace Giovanardi have managed to ‘miss’ one another on the track so far this season.

But today, for the first time in 2007, the crowds and ITV1 viewers saw them trip up over one another when their cars locked wheels and momentarily veered of the track as they fought over second position in the closing stages of race three.

Neither, though, was to take the place – their clash enabled reigning champion Matt Neal to sneak past them both to finish second behind first-time winner Tom Onslow-Cole (see separate story).

But Giovanardi did manage to recover to finish third – one place ahead of Plato – and cut the series leader’s advantage to just 14 points as ahead of the BTCC’s next rounds at Brands Hatch on 19 August.