An
intense battle then commenced between the Vauxhall driver and third
placed Jason Plato.
Giovanardi pulled out all the stops to keep the pressure on his
championship rival, taking third place from the SEAT driver through the
first corner
on lap 11.
Plato slipped
further down the field when a determined Gordon Shedden, who had
started in
11th position, took fourth position from the SEAT driver through
Carlube on the same lap. The Honda Civic driver began an onslaught
against
Giovanardi whose masterful driving defended his crucial podium
position.
Giovanardi’s inspirational drive reduced the gap to Plato in the driver’s
championship to just five points going into the day’s third race.
Tom Chilton, starting from 14th position after his first race crash, made an early
charge to move into 11th place. Chilton fought hard but narrowly missed out on the final points position, finishing in 11th eventually.
SEAT’s Darren Turner took his second win of the day,
leading from the start of the race. Colin Turkington was a close second and joined a triumphant Giovanardi on the podium.
The last race of the
day will start at 15:20 at Knockhill.
Fabrizio Giovanardi #5
"This was a really hard race but the Vectra was a very
good car today.
"I had to push a lot to keep Gordon (Shedden) behind me, but it was a tough fight and clean driving from his side.
"I got the maximum out of the car and was able to pass Jason (Plato), which is so important for the
championship."
Tom Chilton #7
"The incident in the first race basically spoilt my second race. Also, we think the engine
overheated in race one and I kept loosing power throughout the race. It's a big disappointment."
