Despite doing his all to find a way through, Plato was forced to follow Giovanardi home again in race two despite contact on more than one occasion between the two during the 16 laps of action.
Matt Neal took third and unknown to the fans watching on, would have a big part to play in race three having signed up to partner Giovanardi at Vauxhall for 2008. Fourth place meanwhile for Turkington was good enough to see him crowned as Independents' champion with one race left to run.
And so it came down to the final race of the season, with Plato starting sixth and Giovanardi seventh – with just one point splitting them in the title battle.
The start was always going to be crucial and when Giovanardi got away better and got ahead of the SEAT, Plato was always on the back foot. Out front, Turkington led from Jackson with Giovanardi quickly up to third after being allowed through by Neal. Chilton was fifth while Plato was closing the gap to the cars ahead in sixth place.
Chilton got ahead of Neal which left the champion ahead of Plato on the road and it would be a battle that was far from clean with numerous bouts of contact between the two before Plato was able to break away after the pair were forced to swerve round a stationary
BMW at the final chicane after Turkington spun.
Despite his best efforts to get ahead of Chilton and close on second placed Giovanardi, Plato saw his challenge end when Mike Jordan went off into the tyres and brought out the red flag, with the title going to Giovanardi by just three points. Victory in the race itself went to Jackson at the end of a fine debut season.
Behind the top two in the standings, Shedden and Neal took third and fourth for Team Halfords while Indy champion Turkington and Turner rounded out the top six.
