Jason Plato scored another dominant victory in the opening race at Silverstone. The SEAT Sport UK driver overcame tricky conditions that descended on the Northamptonshire circuit just as the touring cars left the pitlane for the first of their three races. Second place went to the impressive Mat Jackson, who surged through from 14th on the grid.

Heavy rain was the forecast for raceday at Silverstone and the British summer lived up to expectations as the first spots fell almost exactly at the moment that the 10 minute board was shown to signal the opening of the pitlane. Initially it looked like the teams would face a dilemma over whether to opt for slick or treaded tyres but by the time the race started, wets were the only sensible option.

At the start, Plato held onto the lead but only just, as Motorbase’s Steven Kane jumped from sixth on the grid up to second by the first corner. But Kane, who had enjoyed his best BTCC qualifying session on Saturday, couldn’t keep the second of the diesel-powered SEATs behind him, and was passed by Darren Turner before the end of the opening lap. As the rain fell increasingly heavily, Kane defended from Matt Neal in the leading VX Racing Vectra, but the BMW driver’s race ended early when he spun into the gravel exiting the complex on lap two.

The beached BMW brought the safety car out at the end of lap three, eliminating the gap that race leader Jason Plato had managed to build up in the early stages. The few drivers that had opted for a mix of wet and slick tyres ahead of the race – including Adam Jones and Tom Onslow-Cole - took the opportunity to pit and change to grooved tyres all round.

The restart came on lap nine, with Plato leading from Turner. Matt Neal was in third for Vauxhall, ahead of Mat Jackson, who had already gained 10 places. Championship leader Fabrizio Giovanardi was running sixth, but soon challenged Colin Turkington for fifth following the restart. The Irishman defended from Giovanardi for a couple of laps but only until lap 11 when the Vauxhall found a way past. A few flashes of his headlights and Giovanardi was also ahead of teammate Matt Neal, who had lost third position to Mat Jackson after trading places for a couple of laps.

Giovanardi’s next target was Mat Jackson in the BMW Dealer Team UK 3 Series, Jackson had other ideas though, setting the fastest lap of the race on lap 14 and closing on the two SEATs at the front. Darren Turner appeared to slow his pace slightly, as if to give Plato a cushion at the front. Turner and Jackson battled for a couple of laps, but the BMW driver made an impressive move to claim the position into Copse on lap 19.

The question over the last couple of laps was whether Jackson could catch and pass race leader Jason Plato. It looked a real possibility when the independent driver slashed the gap by eight tenths in just a single lap, but Plato had enough in reserve to ensure he stayed in front, although it may have been a different story had the race gone on for another couple of laps.

Victory went to Jason Plato, with Mat Jackson in second and Darren Turner third. Colin Turkington passed Fabrizio Giovanardi late on to finish fourth, while Giovanardi was fifth after starting 11th on the grid. Neal was sixth, with Stephen Jelley seventh, Andrew Jordan eighth and Adam Jones ninth. Harry Vaulkhard completed the top ten.