YORK'S James Thompson won the sprint race at Silverstone in round 11 of the Auto Trader British Touring Car Championship at Silverstone.

The Honda Accord team driver put an end to his recent poor luck, but had to dig deep to come through from fourth to win.

He was helped by the problems of team-mate Gabriele Tarquini and Rickard Rydell, in the Ford Mondeo, who clashed on lap three.

"I think this makes up for all the bad luck I've had so far," said Thompson, who has suffered with injuries this season.

"I made a shoddy start and I am not proud of that, but as it happens I think that it kept me out of trouble.

"Once it all went off in front of me it was just a matter of leading the race, and I'm always comfortable when I'm leading."

Thompson headed home countryman Anthony Reid, racing for Ford Mondeo, while Honda team-mate Tom Kristensen was third.

In round 12 of the championship Vauxhall's Yvan Muller beat Tarquini into second place and current overall championship leader Alain Menu into third.

Rydell believes he was out of luck after his hopes of converting a double pole position into a victory brace fell apart.

The Ford Mondeo man was left cursing his lack of fortune - and the rule book - after a weekend that promised much but did not deliver.

The Swedish racer earned places at the front of the grid for both the sprint and feature races, but was left with just an eighth place and runner-up spot to his name.

In the 15-lap event, he was leading until stewards forced him into the pits after the rear bumper began peeling off his car.

Rydell said: "I've not really had the luck this weekend.

"I had two pole positions and thought 'here we go'. I was leading the first race comfortably when I had to come into the pits and remove the bumper."

Anthony Reid's Ford came home in second - a result good enough to wrestle the championship lead from Alain Menu after the Swiss driver span on the warm-up lap and retired early.

Reid said he was satisfied with the opening seconds of the race, claiming: "I got a reasonable start."

But his five-point lead did not last long as he shunted into Vincent Radermecker in the 30-lap feature race and handed top spot back to Menu.

Reid was left in the gravel, while his Ford rival crossed the line in fourth.

Rydell finished second, 5.424 seconds adrift of Yvan Muller, who steered his Vauxhall Vectra to the chequered flag and the top of the podium.

Thompson's hopes of a double-race win were halted by a disastrous start.

He slipped down from fifth on the grid to ninth, within one 2.429-mile lap of Silverstone's International Circuit.