Muller shows cunning to move clear in title race

Yvan Muller, of Vauxhall, moved ahead in the British Touring Car Championship with a win, a fourth place and a sixth in three races yesterday.

Yvan Muller, of Vauxhall, moved ahead in the British Touring Car Championship with a win, a fourth place and a sixth in three races yesterday.

The pressure built in the first two tense, but relatively uneventful, races but sparks flew in the third with a series of robust moves. Jason Plato and Colin Turkington, of Norther Ireland, were the other winners.

Muller won the first race despite carrying the maximum success ballast. Anthony Reid, in the WSR MG, was significantly quicker but could find no way past the cleverly driven Vauxhall.

Race two got off to an explosive start as Michael Bentwood, who started on pole, was forced out of second place on the entry to the second corner by SEAT's Robert Huff. Plato, Huff's team-mate, made a fine start from second on the grid and then led all the way to take a comfortable win. Huff came in second, but was later excluded from the results for his manoeuvre against Bentwood.

James Thompson headed a train of cars trying to find a way past Honda's Tom Chilton, and Thompson eventually pressured Chilton into a mistake and he was bundled down to ninth. Thompson was second.

Race three went to MG driver Turkington after Plato's clear lead was wiped out by a safety car period. Hines took second while Honda driver Dan Eaves just held third.