Having been left on the back foot following qualifying, Fabrizio Giovanardi rebounded on race day to extend his lead in the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship at
Croft.
The Italian could only qualify in twelfth place at the wheel of his Vectra VXR but was able to move up to fourth in an opening race that was shortened drastically due to dangerous weather conditions.
The Italian then ran in fourth place in the second race before losing position to the BMWs of Steven Kane and
Mat Jackson, although he was able to reclaim fifth from Kane on the final lap when he suffered a mechanical issue and was forced to retire.
On the second row for the final race thanks to the reverse grid draw, Giovanardi moved into second place off the line and took the lead from Rob Collard on lap two, slowing pulling out a lead he wasn't to lose after a Safety Car period for a fourth win of the year that puts him 23 points clear going into the summer break.
"I could not see a thing in race one; it was very wet out there," he said. "I also broke my windscreen wipers which made it even more difficult. It was great to finish fourth in race one but with the red-flags it was not really a race. It was just a case of who crashed out in front of you.
"We knew we had the pace throughout the day and the win at the end of the day was great result for us. We made some changes and had the perfect set-up for the weather conditions in the last race.
"After my disappointing qualifying on Saturday I couldn't have hoped for a better result."
