York's James Thompson, driving the EggSport Astra Coupe, sealed his second win of the season in the Sprint discipline during rounds 11 and 12 of the British Touring Car Championship at Donington Park.

He also claimed second spot in the feature race to complete a fine weekend.

Thompson kicked off his day with a dominant win taking full advantage of pole position to lead the touring class from start to finish and giving him temporary joint second place in the championship points standings with Jason Plato.

Thompson got away cleanly at the start of the one-lap handicapped race to pull away from the pursuing Ivan Muller and Phil Bennett who were busy fighting it out amongst themselves.

Oil on the track at the Esses on lap 11 brought out the Safety Car for two laps and as the race restarted, Thompson held his lead albeit after a couple of attempts by Muller to make a last minute dive past. Wise to his tactics, Thompson defended well for his first win since the opening rounds at Brands Hatch, leaving Muller vulnerable to a stunning move by Plato, who dived inside at the chicane to take second place. Muller crossed the line in third

In the Feature Race, Thompson finished second behind Plato after an exciting tussle which kept the 14,500 crowd on their toes.

Plato took his third win of the year after 31 laps in the best touring car race so far this season, allowing him to make inroads into Mulle''s BTCC lead.

Thompson said: "We all got a bad start in the Sprint but it was one of those days when I was at the head of a bad bunch.

"Phil (Bennett) made a good move at the first corner but then went off which gave me a bit of breathing space. I

just tried to maintain as big a gap as possible in the Astra Coupe until the oil went down at the chicane.

"Effectively it was then a sprint for four laps after the Safety Car had pulled away.

"Yvan and I had a bit of contact but I held on and I'm really pleased with the win.

"I gave the Feature my best shot and I'm disappointed not to win."

"The car was better in the Feature race and a win would have been right, but two poles, two fastest laps and one win and a second is not bad."

Updated: 12:13 Monday, July 02, 2001