The Hairpin would be the place where all the action happened on the following lap, with Turner going second past Turkington, who then found himself under attack for third from behind from Plato – who dived down the inside of fourth placed Giovanardi and tipped the
BMW into a spin.
Although Plato could continue, Giovanardi found his path blocked by the stricken RAC car and then managed to tangle with the race one winner as he attempted to get going – launching the Vectra into the air and ripping off the left front wing while also stalling the engine. As Giovanardi then got the engine going once again, he set off right in front of the SEAT Toledo of Matt Allison who was coming through the field, causing further damage to the Vectra and forcing Allison into retirement – where he was joined by Turkington.
As the field came round to line up behind the Safety Car due to the bits of bodywork strewn all over the circuit, it was Turner who held the lead from Plato, with Shedden having slipped down to fourth as a steering problem started to rear its head on the second Team Halfords Honda. Jordan lay fourth ahead of Chilton with Jackson, Stockton and Onslow-Cole rounding out the top eight.
When the race resumed, Shedden quickly lost further places before electing to bring the car in for safety reasons which promoted Jordan into a podium place behind the SEAT pair – with Plato having been allowed through into the lead by Turner. Jordan however wasn’t safe in the place with Chilton breathing down his neck and both Jackson and Gareth Howell not far behind – Howell having passed both Stockton, who took a trip through the grass at the
Jim Clark Esses, and Onslow-Cole to go sixth, with Tom now seventh from Giovanardi, Erkut Kizilirmak and Simon Blanckley.
