Turner taking the win in race 3
Race 1
Jason Plato has clinched the first of today's three HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship rounds at Knockhill in Scotland.
Plato stole the lead from SEAT Leon TDi team-mate Darren Turner off the start and led all the way, setting the fastest lap to lead home Championship leader, Fabrizio Giovanardi (VX Racing Vauxhall Vectra).
Giovanardi chased down young team-mate Tom Onslow-Cole to grab the runner-up spot on lap 26. Onslow-Cole had held second after clashing with pole sitter Turner on the opening lap.
Turner ran off the circuit at The Scotsman corner and then began a fight back through the field. His progress then came to a halt after clashing with Tom Chilton on lap 14 – bringing his race to an end.
Local hero Gordon Shedden stormed through the pack from 10th to finish fourth while Colin Turkington triumphed in the BMW battle, leading home Matt Jackson in fifth and sixth.
The race was disrupted by several safety car periods, the first taking place on lap 2 after when Martyn Bell (Vauxhall Astra) ended up in the tyre wall. Former champion Matt Neal was also in trouble with a flat left front tyre, forcing the VX Racing driver to pit for new rubber.
The safety car driver was back in action after nine laps, this time allowing officials to remove the cars of Jason Hughes (MG ZS) and Michael Doyle (Honda Civic) who finished in the tyre wall at the John R. Weir chicane.
Race two is scheduled to start at 1.50pm.
Leading positions BTCC race Knockhill (provisional):
1. Jason Plato (GBR), SEAT Sport UK/SEAT Leon TDI, 27 laps
2. Fabrizio Giovanardi (ITA), VX Racing/Vauxhall Vectra VXR, +1.582s
3. Tom Onslow-Cole (GBR), VX Racing/Vauxhall Vectra VXR, +2.173s
Colin Turkington prepares for battle
Race 2
SEAT's Jason Plato continued to shave points from the championship lead of Vauxhall rival Fabrizio Giovanardi by winning the second round today at Knockhill in the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship.
Plato, Giovanardi and Tom Onslow-Cole repeated the result from the opening race this morning. The victory was Plato's seventh round win this season, three more than his VX Racing rival.
Giovanardi entered today's rounds with a 44 point championship lead. Plato has now shaved that gap back to 35 points.
Plato's SEAT team-mate Darren Turner pulled out a storming drive to move from 18th on the grid to finish eighth and claim an extra point for fastest lap of the race.
Turner actually had moved into the top ten after four laps and quickly tailed a high speed train of seven cars by lap nine when he moved into ninth place.
His result may have been better if not for a final lap clash with Team RAC driver Colin Turkington. The resulting contact allowed Rob Collard to sneak through into sixth place behind Gorden Shedden (fourth) and Matt Jackson (fifth).
Jackson had made a storming start to pass two cars off the start to move into fourth place. The BMW Dealer Team UK driver was then hounded by local hero Gordon Shedden (Team Halfords) who got through at the hairpin after seven laps.
Unlike the opening race this morning, the second event ran without any safety car interruptions. Jason Hughes (Team KWR) and Scot Michael Doyle (In-Tune Racing) were the only drivers who failed to complete the race – Hughes suffering a broken rear damper and Doyle sidelined with gearbox issues.
Race three is scheduled to start at 4.30pm.
Leading positions BTCC race 2 Knockhill (provisional):
1. Jason Plato (GBR), SEAT Sport UK/SEAT Leon TDI, 24 laps
2. Fabrizio Giovanardi (ITA), VX Racing/Vauxhall Vectra VXR, +1.316s
3. Tom Onslow-Cole (GBR), VX Racing/Vauxhall Vectra VXR, +2.372s
Rob Collard and his team celebrates after taking a fine second place
Race 3
SEAT's Darren Turner bounced back from his opening race disappointment to claim the final event in today's Knockhill rounds of the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship.
However, team-mate and race one and two winner Jason Plato's championship efforts took a blow after a clash with VX Racing's Tom Onslow-Cole forced Plato into the tyre barrier.
Plato had closed the gap to championship leader Fabrizio Giovanardi (VX Racing) from 44 to 35 points after the first two races. But Plato's race three DNF minimised the damage to the Italian Vauxhall driver's championship lead to only three points (now 41 points).
Joining Turner on the podium in the final race was Motorbase BMW driver Rob Collard and Honda Integra driver Andrew Jordan (John Guest Racing) who backed up his race three Oulton Park podium with another third place here in Scotland.
Turner's victory went some way to make up for the opening race for the Oxfordshire driver who qualified on pole but twice suffered contact and failed to finish the race.
After starting eighth, Giovanardi finished fifth - avoiding a number of incidents including a clash on the main straight with Colin Turkington which had the Italian on the grass.
Leading positions BTCC Race 3 Knockhill (provisional):
1. Darren Turner (GBR), SEAT Sport UK/Seat Leon, 27 laps
2. Rob Collard (GBR), Motorbase/BMW 320i, +2.166s
3. Andrew Jordan (GBR), John Guest/Honda Integra, +3.059s
Fastest lap: Darren Turner, 53.389 seconds
Leading Points (provisional):
1. Fabrizio Giovanardi, 228 points
2. Jason Plato, 187
3. Colin Turkington, 160
4. Mat Jackson,155
4. Matt Neal, 152
6. Tom Onslow-Cole, 144 etc.