A capacity crowd at Oulton Park witnessed a feast of action as the British Touring Car Championship made its annual visit to the Cheshire circuit.
In perfect weather conditions, the first two of the day's three races saw veteran racer Jason Plato take his 91st and 92nd race wins in his Team BMR VW CC to move him to the top of the championship standings.
Plato said: “I love this place. We had real confidence after our test here, we’ve got the car just where we want it and when you’re in the groove with both the car and the circuit it makes the job a whole lot easier.”
Plato successfully fended off the Yuasa Honda Racing duo of Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden, who had to settle for the runner-up spot in the first and second events respectively.
Completing the podium in the first race was former World Touring Car Champion Andy Prialux in his BMW, while MG's Andrew Jordan took third place in the second event.
The third race saw the top six finishers from race two line up in reverse order on the grid, leaving pole-sitter Mercedes' Adam Morgan in prime position to take victory on his 100th start.
Unfortunately for him, a jump-start meant he had to take a drive-through penalty which relegated him to the rear of the field.
That left Neal up front, but he ran wide at Lodge corner on oil left behind by a backmarker to allow BMW's Sam Tordoff to take a lead he would hold until the flag.
Jordan later took second from Neal, who nonetheless picked up useful points in his championship charge.
The standings after the final race of the day saw Plato hold on to his lead, with Shedden and Neal close on his heels.
There was plenty of support race action to keep the tens of thousands of spectators happy at the Tarporley track.
Among them was the Ginetta Supercup, which saw Tom Oliphant, who grew up minutes away from the circuit, taking a double podium with two third places, each time closely following title rivals Carl Breeze and Jaimie Orton.
The results mean 24-year-old Oliphant regains third place in the championship standings.
