Jason Plato won the first of yesterday’s final three rounds of the 2004 Green Flag British Touring Car Championship at Donington Park, while second place for James Thompson  moved him 13 points clear of team-mate Yvan Muller in the race for the title.

SEAT Sport UK’s Plato passed Vauxhall driver Thompson for the lead on lap two and from there drew clear in his Toledo for his seventh win of the season. Nobody can now match that total.

Muller also tried to pass Thompson but ran off the road and dropped to 14th before eventually getting back up to seventh. If Thompson increases his lead over Muller to 18 points in today's second race then he will be crowned the new 2004 BTCC Champion.

Finishing third, after continually trading places with Thompson, was WSR MG driver Colin Turkington, the highest-placed HarrierZeuros Independents Trophy runner. Turkington is now 14 points behind team-mate Anthony Reid in the independents championship with just the afternoon’s final two rounds to go.

Finishing tenth to secure pole position for the second race – thanks to the top ten reversed grid rule – was SEAT’s Robert Huff.