Jason Plato took victory in the opening HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship race of the weekend at Knockhill with a lights-to-flag win in race one.

Plato made the ideal start to jump ahead of team-mate Darren Turner off the line and was then able to control the race from the front despite a number of Safety Car periods and following pressure throughout from the Vauxhall of Tom Onslow-Cole.

While Plato led the field into SEAT Curve for the first time, Turner was under pressure immediately from Onslow-Cole, who had started the race from third place in his Vectra. The two went side-by-side through the corner but contact through Leslie's was enough to send the SEAT slightly wide through Scotsman and saw Turner plummet down the order. It left Onslow-Cole second ahead of Colin Turkington, Matt Neal, Mat Jackson and defending champion Fabrizio Giovanardi. Further down the order, a strong start for Steven Kane came to nothing as he was tagged into a spin by Adam Jones coming through the Hairpin and dropped to the back of the field.

Plato had opened up a lead of more than two seconds on the opening lap alone, but his lead was soon nullified when the Safety Car was deployed following an incident at Carlube that saw Martyn Bell go off into the barrier after contact from the SEAT of Chris Stockton.

One the Astra was removed from the gravel, the race resumed on lap six, with Onslow-Cole setting about trying to find a way past Plato into the lead. However, the race had barely got back underway before the Safety Car was back on track as Jason Hughes and Micky Doyle went off into the barriers on the outside of the John R Weir Chicane – putting the race under caution for the second time.

At that point, Plato led from Onslow-Cole and Turkington, with Giovanardi having climbed to fourth ahead of Jackson and Shedden who was making progress from his tenth place starting position. Tom Chilton, Andy Jordan, a recovering Turner and Rob Collard rounded out the top ten, while Matt Neal had slipped off the lead lap having been forced to pit with a puncture.

Plato had opened up a lead of more than two seconds on the opening lap alone, but his lead was soon nullified when the Safety Car was deployed following an incident at Carlube that saw Martyn Bell go off into the barrier after contact from the SEAT of Chris Stockton.

One the Astra was removed from the gravel, the race resumed on lap six, with Onslow-Cole setting about trying to find a way past Plato into the lead. However, the race had barely got back underway before the Safety Car was back on track as Jason Hughes and Micky Doyle went off into the barriers on the outside of the John R Weir Chicane – putting the race under caution for the second time.

At that point, Plato led from Onslow-Cole and Turkington, with Giovanardi having climbed to fourth ahead of Jackson and Shedden who was making progress from his tenth place starting position. Tom Chilton, Andy Jordan, a recovering Turner and Rob Collard rounded out the top ten, while Matt Neal had slipped off the lead lap having been forced to pit with a puncture.

Shedden was right on the tail of Giovanardi as the pair broke away from Turkington but the battle at the front then started to calm down with the top six maintaining positions until the penultimate lap when Onslow-Cole moved over and Giovanardi took second place, with Onslow-Cole then completing the podium behind the points leader and race winner Plato.

Shedden took fourth from Turkington and Jackson, while late changes for position saw Collard take seventh ahead of Jones, Andy Jordan and Chilton.

Mike Jordan took the flag in eleventh ahead of Kane, with Stephen Jelley, John George, Alan Taylor and Neal completing the 16 finishers.