In race three, Plato ensured he would remain on top of the standings as he took victory after chasing down and passing early leader Dave Pinkney the Luton Town Chairman having been given pole thanks to the reverse grid rules. Gordon Shedden and Jordan completed the podium ahead of Giovanardi with the Italian having now closed the gap at the top of the standings to nine points heading to
Croft.
The annual trip to the North East saw a number of firsts, which included Shedden putting the Civic on top of the grid for the first time in qualifying as the Scot edged out Turkington and Turner for top spot. Title rivals Giovanardi and Plato could only manage fifth and eighth which set up an interesting weekend of racing as Croft celebrated ten years on the BTCC calendar.
The second first of the weekend came in race one as Turkington took the lead from the start and stormed to victory giving him the first win for a
BMW driver since Roberto Ravaglia back in 1996. Pole man Shedden took second, having passed team-mate Neal when the champion was held up while lapping Onslow-Cole who had pitted earlier with a puncture. However, a double podium was a sign that things were starting to come good for the Halfords squad after the false dawn of the Brands victory. Giovanardi was sixth in the race ahead of Plato so closing the gap slightly in the standings.
An action packed second race saw Turner take his first win in the BTCC, albeit only after SEAT played the team game and gave Plato time at the front to pick up the bonus point on offer for leading a lap. Plato then slowed on the run to the line to give Turner the earlier leader the race win. The final place on the podium went to Jordan, while Giovanardi could manage only sixth in a battle-scarred Vectra after contact with Turkington and Allison at the hairpin, the incident coming after Turkington was tipped into a spin by Plato.
