BTCC Rockingham: Jason Plato dominates race one to win for MG from Andrew Jordan

After briefly fighting off a challenge from the fast-starting Motorbase Ford of Mat Jackson, Plato's MG pulled clear of the field.

On his first flying lap, Plato set a time that would have been good enough for fifth on the grid and established a two-second lead.

He extended it to over four before cruising home to take his fourth win of 2012.

Behind him, Jackson's tenure of second was brief as he was shuffled back by the Eurotech and works Hondas of, respectively, Andrew Jordan and Gordon Shedden at Yentwood on lap one.

Shedden shadowed Jordan early on before dropping back. He just held off Jackson at the flag to complete the podium.

The second MG of Andy Neate initially ran fifth, but fell prey to Rob Collard's WSR BMW - up from eighth on the grid - and Matt Neal's Honda.

Despite his injured hand, Neal had already fought off a challenge from Rob Austin's rapid Audi, which spun trying to pass the Honda at Pif-Paf, and pressured Collard to the flag.

Neal's sixth place was enough to retain the points lead, but the triple champion lost ground to closest rivals Shedden and Plato.

A fading Neate finished seventh, just ahead of Tom Onslow-Cole's BMW and the recovering Austin.

BTCC rookie Howard Fuller lost out to Chris James on the final lap, but still took points for 14th with Tony Gilham Racing's Honda.

Results - 16 laps:

Pos  Driver           Team/Car             Time/Gap
 1.  Jason Plato      MG                 22m38.269s
 2.  Andrew Jordan    Eurotech Honda       + 3.323s
 3.  Gordon Shedden   Honda                + 6.710s
 4.  Mat Jackson      Motorbase Ford       + 6.890s
 5.  Rob Collard      WSR BMW             + 19.974s
 6.  Matt Neal        Honda               + 20.254s
 7.  Andy Neate       MG                  + 26.102s
 8.  Tom Onslow-Cole  WSR BMW             + 26.445s
 9.  Rob Austin       Austin Audi         + 26.993s
10.  Nick Foster      WSR BMW             + 33.041s
11.  Frank Wrathall   Dynojet Toyota      + 34.547s
12.  Dave Newsham     ES Vauxhall         + 34.820s
13.  Chris James      ES Vauxhall         + 51.918s
14.  Howard Fuller    Gilham Honda        + 53.338s
15.  Tony Hughes      Speedworks Toyota   + 53.952s

Retirements:
     Will Bratt       Austin Audi           14 laps
     Jeff Smith       Eurotech Honda        12 laps
     Adam Morgan      Speedworks Toyota     12 laps
     Ollie Jackson    AmD Volkswagen        10 laps
     Aron Smith       Motorbase Ford         6 laps