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With the inaugural title using the New Clio Cup race car already secure, Byford was looking for his first victory of the season and from fifth on the grid he took the lead on lap one from Kangaroo International/SMC Renault/JHR’s pole-sitter Jim Edwards Jnr (Maidenhead) who dropped to fourth. Hodgetts came through from seventh on the grid to lie second with Lawson maintaining third.

PH Motorsport’s Philip House (Harrogate) made the best start of all to rise from 18thth, while Total Control Racing’s Jonathan Fildes (Co Meath) gained three places to ninth before the Safety Car was deployed. When racing resumed on lap four, Byford and Hodgetts broke away from Lawson, while Fildes was involved in an incident at the Complex that ended his race prematurely. on the grid to 10

On lap four, Mardi Gras Motorsport’s Ed Pead (Northampton) passed JHR Developments’ double former champion Paul Rivet (Banstead) for seventh, while Andrew Herron (Dromore) gained two places to ninth. Lap six saw Pead gain another place by passing Youth 4 Human Rights with SVE’s Niki Lanik (Ashurst Wood), but contact made by Pead in completing the pass at Club chicane was later penalised by the Clerk of the Course with a two-second penalty, effectively reversing the positions.

As the race approached mid-distance, Hodgetts began to significantly close on Byford, crossing the line just 0.3s behind to begin lap nine. The Safety Car was deployed at the end of the lap but while the cars were allowed to race until they reached the start/finish line, Hodgetts capitalised on a small mistake by Byford to take the lead at Goodwood.

Rivett also slipped back on lap nine as both House and Herron gained a position. The Safety Car then came out to enable the recovery of In Tune with Robertshaw Racing’s Michael Doyle’s car, after he had a heavy impact at Noble having been running in a solid 11th place.

Following three laps behind the Safety Car, the restart came on lap 13 with only three racing laps remained with Byford intent on passing Hodgetts to claim his first win of the season. Lawson kept pace with the leading duo as Edwards Jnr fended off the attention of Mardi Gras Motorsport duo Árón Smith (Rathfarnham) and Ed Pead.

Entering the Complex on lap 14, Smith nudged Pead into Edwards Jnr, both drivers taking to the grass as Smith negotiated the corner but lost places to Rivett and Herron. Edwards Jnr remarkably kept fourth place, while Pead dropped down the order on successive laps to finish 19th. His two-second penalty moved him to 21st behind Lanik, replicating their positions prior to the contact on lap six.

The final lap saw more drama as the cars raced up Woodham Hill towards Club chicane for the final time. At speeds of approximately 120mph, slight contact between House and Pead saw both cars spin, the unlucky Andrew Herron caught up in the incident. Robertshaw Racing’s Chris Dymond (Akeley) rose from 10th behind Pead to finish sixth, while Amery Motorsport’s David Shepherd (Sandbach) completed a superb weekend in seventh place having started 24th on the grid and earn the Renault Financial Services Driver of the Day award.

Untroubled by the events unfolding in midfield, the leaders raced through the chicane with Hodgetts cleverly holding the middle of the road to take the victory ahead of Byford by a mere 0.381s with Lawson just behind in third. Edwards Jnr’s fourth place came under threat in the final turns from team-mate Rivett, the 2000 Clio Cup champion edging out the 2002 and 2004 champion by just 0.090s.

Commenting on his victory, Hodgetts said: “Finally I got to have a real race with Martin, which is what we’ve been waiting for all season long. We each know that we can race with confidence in the other and it was great fun. To win five races in such a competitive championship, the most of anyone, is a great season for me and it’s a shame it wasn’t quite enough to take the title.”

Second-placed Byford, who wins the title by 48 points from Hodgetts, said: “For one reason or another, myself and Stefan haven’t had much racing together this year despite being ahead in the championship. He was pushing me very hard in the early part of the race and I just made a slight mistake that was enough for him to take advantage of. It would have been nice to get a win to top off the championship but to be on the podium again is fantastic.”

Third-placed Lawson, in only his second year of racing, commented: “I’ve had a really good season with my first win at Snetterton. It’s a shame I had a couple of couple of non-finishes, especially yesterday with the oil on the circuit, as that hurt my championship hopes. Today’s race was very close and nice for the top three in the championship to stand on the podium at the final round.”