Jason Plato has won the second of today’s three Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship races at the Brands Hatch circuit in Kent to move into the series lead.

As in today’s first race, Plato led all the way from pole position and again set the fastest lap – despite his Silverline Chevrolet Cruze carrying the maximum 45kgs of success ballast.

Similarly, Mat Jackson was second again in his Airwaves Racing Ford Focus, just ahead of the closely following Team Aon Ford Focus of Tom Onslow-Cole. Paul O’Neill closed in on this pair in the closing stages before settling for fourth in his GoMobileUK.com with tech-speed Chevrolet.

Onslow-Cole’s team-mate Tom Chilton was fifth after eventually finding a way by James Nash at Druids Hill Bend. Nash crossed the line in sixth in his 888 Racing with Collins with Contractors Vauxhall Vectra.

Seventh and eighth, having started back in 17th and 18th after punctures in race one, were the Honda Racing Team Civics of Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden.

The result means that Plato has moved past them both into the championship lead. He now has 215 points to Neal’s 208, Shedden’s 207 and Jackson’s 183. Nash, 44 points behind Plato, is also hanging in there and could yet make it an unprecedented five-way battle for the Drivers’ crown on Finals Day at Silverstone, Northants in two weeks (15-16 Oct).

Nash also continues to lead the Independents Trophy but Jackson has narrowed his advantage to just 12 points.

Plato commented: “The car was absolutely perfect again. We developed this car in 2010 so it would work well with extra ballast and that’s why I was able to control this race.”

Jackson added: “Another ton of points is exactly what I needed after race one – it’s keeping our small title hopes alive. I won’t give up while it is still possible.”

And said Onslow-Cole: “I put as much pressure on Mat as I could and there were a few times I could have had a big lunge, but he covered everything very well. It was a job to hold Paul back at the end, but I’m delighted – it’s a long time since I’ve had a podium.”

Meanwhile, just as in race one, Andy Neate (Aon Ford) and Nick Foster (WSR BMW) again finished in ninth and tenth places. Neate’s result ensured once more that all three Aon cars were inside the points. Foster’s reward is a pole position starting slot for race three’s reversed grid. But there was dismay for team-mate Robert Collard in race two – battling in the top eight he was forced to make a pit stop to have the damaged rear of his car repaired and he could finish no higher than 22nd.

Plato’s team-mate Alex MacDowall was also unfortunate. He’d run as high as third only for his Chevrolet to stop in a huge cloud of smoke entering Surtees Bend. Daniel Welch was the race’s only other retirement as his Welch Motorsport Proton Gen-2 slowed suddenly towards the end.

Tom Boardman provided arguably the drive of the race as he finished 11th, just outside the points, after starting back in 24th. From 29th, another of the fancied runners, Andrew Jordan, also made up 13 places in his Pirtek Racing Vectra, but that only meant 16th – it means both his outright and Independent drivers’ title hopes are now over.

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