Photo: PSP Images

Jason Plato wins race three in chaotic Croft race

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Jason Plato has won the third race of the day at Croft, in a race which was twice interrupted by the safety car, whilst Matt Neal goes into the mid-season break leading the championship.

Nick Foster started from pole position in the reverse grid race, whilst Rob Collard made a storming start from sixth on the grid up into second in the #8 West Surrey Racing BMW, with Tom Onslow-Cole up to fourth in the team’s third car.

A spin for Tony Gilham on the opening lap saw the safety car called to rescue Gilham’s car, before he was able to escape by himself and rejoined the race, with race resuming on lap three.

Frank Wrathall passed an unready Onslow-Cole for fourth at the restart, whilst two laps later Andy Neate took the lead of the race in the Triple Eight MG from Foster, who later bounced off wide at Tower Bend and fell down the order.

The race was then held up behind the safety car for five whole laps after Lea Wood’s Vauxhall Vectra and Liam Griffin’s Motorbase Ford went out at Tower, with Griffin’s car briefly catching fire and suffering severe damage.

When the race resumed, Jason Plato passed Wrathall for third at the first corner, with Wrathall then losing further ground going wide at Tower where the slippery surface flags were now being displayed.

Plato was now putting second placed Collard under pressure, with Collard locking up on the following lap at Tower, allowing Plato into second who closed down on and passed team-mate Neate for the lead, again at Tower bend two laps later.

Neate began to lose spots rapidly after that, passed by Tom Onslow-Cole for second at the end of the lap and then Andrew Jordan’s Eurotech Honda on lap 16, before being knocked wide by Matt Neal on the following lap and fell to ninth.

Plato went on to take the win ahead of West Surrey Racing’s Tom Onslow-Cole with Andrew Jordan completing the podium, with Matt Neal finishing just behind in fourth position.

Neal retakes the lead of the championship back off of his team-mate Gordon Shedden, and goes into the mid-season break with a one point lead, with Jason Plato 29 points down on Neal in third.