Mat Jackson has won today’s third Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship race at Croft ahead of Nick Foster in a best ever second.

Jackson led every lap in his Airwaves Racing Ford Focus but was under huge pressure throughout from Foster and his WSR BMW team-mate Robert Collard.

Foster, who led through the first few bends having started from the reversed grid pole position, later allowed the more experienced Collard past at the midway stage to see if he could crack Jackson but to no avail.

Exiting the final bend, Collard then sportingly backed off and allowed Foster back into second before they crossed the finish line for the first podium result of his BTCC career.

Jackson said: “Boy that was hard. Those BMWs are mighty around here and I had to nurse the tyres for the last half of the race. Luckily there were yellow flags on the last lap at the hairpin where they were strongest so I could breathe a bit easier. It’s a great result to go into the summer break with and gets us right back on to Matt Neal’s tail.”

Foster said: “I’m having a great time. Three points results at Oulton Park two weeks ago and a seventh and second today. I never thought I’d be on the podium this quickly in my BTCC career but the BMW is terrific around here. I heard on the team radio Rob might hand me the place back – it was very sporting of him.”

Collard added: “It’s been a great day for me, on the podium in all three races in wet and dry conditions. We knew the BMW would be strong here and have made the most of it. But what a drive from Nick in only his fifth BTCC event – to beat the names he has is a massive achievement and he’s the talk of the pit lane.”

Andrew Jordan finished the race in fourth in his Pirtek Vauxhall Vectra, followed by 888/Collins driver James Nash’s similar car after he’d found a way past Honda team-mates Gordon Shedden and Matt Neal who took sixth and seventh. Alex MacDowall had also briefly got ahead of Neal only to be re-passed on the last lap so had to settle for eighth in his Silverline Chevrolet Cruze having come through from 16th on the grid. It was a frustrating race for his team-mate Jason Plato who started from the rear of the grid and finished 11th, outside the points.

Leaving Croft and heading into the seven-week summer break in the calendar, Neal leads the championship by nine points from Jackson. Shedden is third, Jordan fourth, Plato fifth and Nash sixth while Collard’s results today – third, second and third – have catapulted him up to seventh.

Incidents of note included Paul O’Neill’s exit at the hairpin on the penultimate lap – in a near repeat of his race two retirement, he spun with broken suspension on his GoMobileUK.com with tech-speed Chevrolet, this time after contact with Shaun Hollamby’s AmD Milltek Racing.com VW Golf. Frank Wrathall also retired spectacularly, his Toyota hurtling off the track into a crop field at high speed.

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