Jason Plato sensationally came through from 20th on the grid to win Silverstones third Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship race and cut the gap to points leader Gordon Shedden.
Nick Foster led until half distance in his eBay Motors BMW until being caught and passed by Platos KX Momentum Racing MG6 which had been forced to start near the back after retiring from the second race.
Platos stunning drive, which also netted him a bonus point for setting the fastest lap, gave him his sixth win of the season and could prove criticalhe leaves Silverstone now just 15 points adrift of Honda Yuasa Racing Team ace Shedden as the championship prepares for its title showdown at Brands Hatch in a fortnight (20/21 October).
Meanwhile Sheddens team-mate Matt Neal has dropped to third in the table after contact with Lea Woods BINZ Racing Vauxhall Vectra sent his Honda Civic spinning into the barriers exiting Brooklands Corner. Neal has not scored a single point all day
Oxfords Plato commented: I put everything on the line in that oneafter the retirement in race two I had to if I was going to still have any sort of chance going to Brands. It was great fun and its a great win but it underlines just how fantastic our MG6 is.
Plato crossed the line ahead of Mat Jacksons Redstone Racing Ford Focus which, having won the days second race, had moved up from tenth on the grid with the maximum 45kgs of success ballast on board.
Robert Collard led home eBay Motors team-mates Tom Onslow-Cole and Foster as they finished in third, fourth and fifth places with Shedden close behind in sixth. Andrew Jordan clung on to finish seventh in his Pirtek Racing Honda Civiccrucial as it means he still has an outside chance of the title in Brands Hatchs finalewhile Adam Morgan achieved a career-best result of eighth in his Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Avensis.
Two drivers left ruing what might have been were Rob Austin and Daniel Welch. They had been battling for second position early on when a collision between their RAR Audi A4 and Welch Motorsport Proton Persona at Copse Corner cost them time and places. Incredibly they tangled again later at Luffield CornerAustin continuing to finish ninth while Welch spun down to 15th.
Dave Newsham and Frank Wrathall were also eliminated while battling among the top ten. Newshams Team ES Racing.com Vauxhall Vectra was tapped into a spin at Luffield and Wrathalls Dynojet Toyota crashed while trying to avoid him.
