Josh Cook claimed victory after scything through from the fifth row of the grid in the second British Touring Car Championship race at Thruxton.
Though Colin Turkington claimed an early lead from a slow-starting Matt Neal into Allard and soaked up pressure from a rapid Cook for several laps, he ultimately surrendered the lead to the Power Maxed Racing driver on the run up Woodham Hill, as did Matt Neal and Sam Tordoff for second and third respectively before him.
The Vauxhall Astra then powered clear, taking the chequered flag some 1.3 seconds clear.
The nature in which he passed BMW Pirtek Racing’s Andrew Jordan earlier in the race, however, ducking over the chicane as the pair ran side-by-side, could be looked at retrospectively by officials.
The result does mean, however, that Bath-based racer Cook assumes the championship lead by a 10-point margin, with Tom Ingram and Adam Morgan tied for second.
Neal did well to round out the podium with a full quota of success ballast on board for Halfords Yuasa Racing, though he lost touch with the lead fight and crossed the line nearly five seconds adrift.
Sam Tordoff claimed fourth and the Independents victory for the second successive race after an improved turn of form for the Motorbase Performance Ford Focus RS.
Senna Proctor highlighted the performance of the Astra with sixth, though ultimately couldn’t find a way past Jordan’s BMW 125i M Sport.
Adam Morgan and Jack Goff both made forward progress with lighter cars to seventh and eighth, with Tom Chilton and Chris Smiley rounding out the top ten.
Reigning champion Ash Sutton came next and was the only man to halt an absorbing charge from Ingram, who started dead last in the Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Avensis and took the chequered flag 12th, putting himself in the frame for the reverse grid draw.
The final race of the weekend in Hampshire gets underway at 17:15.
Race result
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 66 | M | Josh COOK |  |
Power Maxed TAG Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 16 | 21:00.610 | 1:17.585 | 9 |
| 2 | 2 | M | Colin TURKINGTON | |
Team BMW | BMW 125i M Sport | 16 | 1.325 | 1:17.937 | 2 |
| 3 | 25 | M | Matt NEAL | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 16 | 5.285 | 1:17.919 | 1 |
| 4 | 600 | Sam TORDOFF | |
Team GardX Racing with Motorbase | Ford Focus RS | 16 | 6.287 | 1:18.047 | 4 | |
| 5 | 77 | M | Andrew JORDAN | |
BMW Pirtek Racing | BMW 125i M Sport | 16 | 6.595 | 1:17.956 | 6 |
| 6 | 18 | M | Senna PROCTOR | |
Power Maxed TAG Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 16 | 7.005 | 1:17.743 | 7 |
| 7 | 33 | Adam MORGAN | |
MAC Tools with Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 16 | 7.419 | 1:17.823 | 14 | |
| 8 | 31 | Jack GOFF | |
WIX Racing with Eurotech | Honda Civic Type R | 16 | 7.816 | 1:17.752 | 13 | |
| 9 | 3 | Tom CHILTON | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher | Ford Focus RS | 16 | 9.114 | 1:18.105 | 5 | |
| 10 | 22 | Chris SMILEY | |
BTC Norlin Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 16 | 10.203 | 1:17.800 | 10 | |
| 11 | 1 | M | Ashley SUTTON | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 16 | 11.049 | 1:17.995 | 15 |
| 12 | 80 | Tom INGRAM | |
Speedworks Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 16 | 12.177 | 1:17.963 | 32 | |
| 13 | 11 | Rob AUSTIN | |
DUO Motorsport with HMS Racing | Alfa Romeo Giulietta | 16 | 14.844 | 1:18.237 | 16 | |
| 14 | 303 | Matt SIMPSON | |
Simpson Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 16 | 15.289 | 1:18.174 | 12 | |
| 15 | 16 | Aiden MOFFAT | |
Laser Tools Racing | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 16 | 15.741 | 1:18.228 | 18 | |
| 16 | 5 | M | Rob COLLARD | |
Team BMW | BMW 125i M Sport | 16 | 16.154 | 1:18.145 | 11 |
| 17 | 48 | Ollie JACKSON | |
AmD with Cobra Exhausts | Audi S3 | 16 | 21.203 | 1:18.696 | 25 | |
| 18 | 24 | Jake HILL | |
Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing | Volkswagen CC | 16 | 22.39 | 1:18.494 | 20 | |
| 19 | 6 | Rory BUTCHER | |
AmD with AutoAid / RCIB Insurance Racing | MG 6 | 16 | 25.204 | 1:18.497 | 24 | |
| 20 | 19 | Bobby THOMPSON | |
Team HARD. with Trade Price Cars | Volkswagen CC | 16 | 29.488 | 1:18.491 | 26 | |
| 21 | 14 | James NASH | |
BTC Norlin Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 16 | 30.606 | 1:18.456 | 23 | |
| 22 | 12 | Tom BOARDMAN | |
AmD with AutoAid / RCIB Insurance Racing | MG 6 | 16 | 30.914 | 1:18.774 | 30 | |
| 23 | 28 | Josh PRICE | |
Autoglym Academy Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 16 | 35.311 | 1:19.121 | 22 | |
| 24 | 23 | Sam SMELT | |
AmD with Cobra Exhausts | Audi S3 | 16 | 38.749 | 1:19.249 | 28 | |
| 25 | 60 | Stephen JELLEY | |
Team Parker Racing | BMW 125i M Sport | 16 | 41.19 | 1:18.754 | 27 | |
| 26 | 27 | M | Dan CAMMISH | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 16 | 1:15.410 | 1:18.326 | 3 |
| 27 | 44 | Michael CAINE | |
Team HARD. with Trade Price Cars | Volkswagen CC | 14 | 2 Laps | 1:18.703 | 31 | |
| 28 | 39 | Brett SMITH | |
WIX Racing with Eurotech | Honda Civic Type R | 14 | 2 Laps | 1:17.853 | 8 | |
| 29 | 21 | Mike BUSHELL | |
Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing | Volkswagen CC | 13 | 3 Laps | 1:18.796 | 21 | |
| R | 20 | James COLE | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher | Ford Focus RS | 3 | DNF | 1:19.492 | 19 | |
| R | 99 | M | Jason PLATO | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 3 | DNF | 1:33.860 | 29 |
| R | 15 | Tom OLIPHANT | |
Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 2 | DNF | 1:19.734 | 17 |