Mat Jackson wins an intense third race at Donington Park

Motorbase Performance’s Mat Jackson has taken his second win of the day at Donington Park, suriving an intense race to take the race three victory.

Pole sitter Jeff Smith made a slow start to the race with Mat Jackson taking an early lead which he soon lost to Dave Newsham. Jackson then came under fire from Rob Collard who was able to overtake him to take second. Andy Neate was the first casualty of the race after a crashing at the start finish line at the end of the first lap.

West Surrey Racing’s Rob Collard ran wide on lap three catching out his team mate Tom Onslow-Cole when he rejoined, with Onslow-Cole sent spearing off track. There was also contact between Andrew Jordan and Matt Neal as a consequence of this incident, with both Honda Civics spinning. Jordan was able to rejoin but Neal ended up stuck in the gravel bringing out the first safety car of the race.

Jackson led the field away on the lap seven restart having overtaken Newsham for the lead before the safety car was deployed. Rob Collard moved into second behind him after overtaking Dave Newsham at Dunlop Straight. Two laps later Gordon Shedden overtook Newsham for third at the Old Hairpin.

Behind the front runners Triple Eight Race Engineering’s Jason Plato was making his way through the field and soon found himself in a podium position, having started in 17th. As the race entered its final laps Shedden had to fiercely defend against Plato while chasing Jackson closely. Contact from Plato at the final corner of the final lap sent both cars off track and allowed Plato to get through for the second place ahead of Shedden who finished third. Tony Gilham put in a strong performance to finish fourth ahead of Rob Collard who rounded out the top five.

Jason Plato has retained his lead in the 2012 British Touring Car Championship with a three point leading margin over Mat Jackson.