VX Racing suffered a string of misfortunes this weekend at Oulton Park, with only a second place finish for Yvan Muller in the second of the three Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship races adding silverware to the VX Racing trophy cabinet.

Saturday's qualifying sessions resulted in a respectable fourth place start for Gavin Smith in the first race, fifth place for Yvan Muller and a disappointing ninth place for Colin Turkington. Lining up in this order for the first of the three races today, the sun blazed and VX Racing looked set to add valuable points to their championship tallies. In an exciting first race Muller fared best of the three Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch drivers with a fourth place finish, while Smith finished sixth and Turkington eighth.

As the lights went out for race two, Yvan Muller once again had a flying start and was up into third place at the first corner. As the race unfolded, Muller kept in touch with the leaders, regular BTCC rivals Matt Neal and Jason Plato, and when the moment came, Muller grabbed second after Plato was forced off the track. Muller, without enough pace to challenge Neal for the lead, finished a well-deserved second. "That was a really hard race," said Muller. "I think we have made progress with the car compared to the first race. The step we have made is quite small but at the same time the gap between Honda and us is not that big. We will get there step by step." Of his racing incident with Plato, he added, "I think the TV coverage will prove that the move on Plato was fair. When Matt took the lead Plato tried to slot in behind but I was already there."

Smith started his race well, but struggled to hold position and later, in his efforts to improve his position he braked late and was tipped into a spin and off the track. Rejoining in 10th after a pit stop, Smith finished 11th, after being unable to hold off Plato who took him for the coveted spot, which due to the BTCC third-race top-ten reverse grid rule puts the holder of this position on pole for the final race. Turkington, meanwhile, took over Smith's original sixth place slot and finished in this position at the chequered flag.

The three VX Racing drivers lined up for the final race of the day in stormy weather, with Colin Turkington in fourth place, Yvan Muller eighth and Gavin Smith in 11th place. The positions of Turkington and Muller were due to the reverse grid system for the top ten finishers. Muller had the best start of the three Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch drivers, moving up to sixth as the pack went through the first few corners, but with Richard Williams ahead of him losing the car under braking and swerving into his path, Muller was punted off track. The irrepressible Frenchman rejoined in twelfth, but was forced into the pits and out of the race with damaged rear suspension.

The VX Racing on-track action didn't finish with Muller. Turkington was caught up in a tangle with teammate Smith, with the gravel trap claiming the Astra Sport Hatch, to finish the young Ulsterman's day. Smith stayed out on track lying in sixth, but Turkington's misfortune had prompted deployment of the safety car, and as the safety car period ended so did Smith's day, with the team bringing him into the pits suffering rare transmission problems.

Ian Harrison, VX Racing team principal, summed up the weekend, saying, "It hasn't been a good weekend for us. Yvan drove well in the second race. Race three was a shocker with some of it self-inflicted. We will be back out testing next week in efforts to be back on the pace and try to find that couple of tenths we need."

VX Racing leave Oulton Park lying first in the Manufacturers Championship and second in the Team Championship, with Muller third in the Drivers Championship, Turkington sixth and Smith in tenth place.

The 2005 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship is the first year of competition for the VX Racing Astra Sport Hatch. This year VX Racing will be aiming to repeat the triple-title winning success of the past four years and continues its title hunt at the next round of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Croft on 17 July.