Fabrizio Giovanardi drew the number nine from ITV’s new ‘goldfish bowl of fate’ after his race two victory, reversing the top nine finishers and putting Mike Jordan on pole position for the third race of the day.

Jordan said ahead of the race that he felt his BTCC-spec Honda Integra probably lacked the pace to hang on at the front and so it proved. ‘Old Man’, as it says on the side of the car, was beaten away from the line by the rear-wheel drive BMWs of Colin Turkington and Mat Jackson, who were first and second respectively through Paddock. Jordan was far from left behind though, and he gave Jackson a gentle nudge going into Druids for the first time, passing the BMW as a result.

Also at Druids on the opening lap, SEAT’s Darren Turner was pushed into the gravel trap by the Team Halfords Honda of Gordon Shedden. In the other SEAT, Jason Plato was involved in contact at the following corner. As Shedden moved to the inside, Plato tagged the back of the Civic, which in turn caught the back of Tom Onslow-Cole’s Vectra. Onslow-Cole was spun around and sent into the tyre barrier on the outside of Cooper Straight, in an impact estimated at 14g. The young driver was quickly out of the car, but collecting up the scattered pieces of Vectra took slightly longer, bringing the safety car out onto the track.

The restart came on lap eight, but there was just a single lap’s racing before the safety car made a second visit to the track, again for an incident involving Gordon Shedden. This time Shedden was pushed wide on the outside of Druids and found himself in the gravel trap and out of the race.

Another restart and this time the race could finally get underway. Colin Turkington was still out front, ahead of Mat Jackson, Mike Jordan, Matt Neal and Jason Plato. Winner of the first two races, Fabrizio Giovanardi was in sixth position, in front of Mat Jackson and Stephen Jelley.

Mat Jackson kept the pressure on fellow BMW driver Colin Turkington at the front. Indeed, as the race drew towards its close, Jackson appeared to have the upper hand, but there was just no way past for the BMW Dealer Team UK driver. Not for lack of trying though – a last ditch attempt saw Jackson with two wheels on the grass as the pair rounded Clearways for the last time. It was Turkington who held on a the front though, with Jackson forced to settle for his second second place finish of the day. Behind the lead pair, Matt Neal got the better of Mike Jordan with a couple of laps to spare, ensuring there was a Vauxhall on the podium for the final race of the day. Jordan senior finished fourth, ahead of Jason Plato. Fabrizio Giovanardi added a sixth place finish to his two wins, while Tom Chilton, Matt Allison, Andrew Jordan and Stephen Jelley completed the top ten.

The result means that Fabrizio Giovanardi leaves Brands Hatch with the championship lead, but perhaps surprisingly, it’s Mat Jackson who is second in the standings, just two points behind the reigning champion. The scene is set for quite a season…