Two Tornado fighter jets flew over Knockhill at 250 ft as the cars lined up on the grid for the first race of the day, in a spectacular display organised by team Halfords sponsors Clydesdale Bank.

Unfortunately for Matt Neal, his Honda Integra did not prove quite as quick as the Tornado and it was championship rival Jason Plato who took a lights to flag victory in round 22, trailed home by teammate Darren Turner.

After heavy rain during the morning, the track was wet ahead of the day’s first race, although only a small amount of drizzle remained as the race got underway.

Both Plato and Turner made strong starts from the front row, while third on the grid Fabrizio Giovanardi struggled to get traction down and dropped to sixth by the first corner. Local hero Gordon Shedden made a quick getaway. Too quick in fact, as he locked up under braking into the SEAT curves and slid sideways through the gravel trap, emerging just ahead of teammate Neal at the bottom of the hill.

Shedden continued on his way initially, but pitted a few laps later to have his Integra checked out by the Team Halfords crew. Meanwhile, James Kaye’s race came to a premature end when he was caught by Mike Jordan and hit the tyre barrier at Clark Curve. It was enough to bring the safety car out and bunch the pack up.

Four laps behind the safety car allowed Kaye’s car to be recovered and Jason Plato was able to open up a healthy lead again at the front as Darren Turner held the rest of the pack up behind him. It was a move that saw Turner punished after the race, with 20 seconds added to his time, dropping him from second on the track to 10th in the classification.

Matt Neal and Gareth Howell put Turner under pressure after the restart, while Gordon Shedden, in the third Integra came into the pits for a drive-through penalty, picked up for exiting the pitlane through a red light.

Lap 13 saw Gavin Smith, who was running ninth, lose control of his Astra Sport Hatch at the Scotsman corner, colliding heavily with the side of Dave Pinkney’s Integra. The result was another safety car period. Once he was out of his car, Pinkney made sure the crowd and the live TV viewers knew what he thought of Smith’s move, with the help of a distinctive hand gesture.

Another six laps behind the safety car and another restart followed. Plato again held on at the front, and did so through to the chequered flag. Darren Turner stayed second, only to lose the position to the stewards after the race. Neal challenged the SEAT, but finished third, with Gareth Howell fourth and Fabrizio Giovanardi fifth. Mike Jordan finished sixth, ahead of Gordon Shedden, Colin Turkington, Jason Hughes and Mark Proctor.