Boardman takes controversial victory at Knockhill

Starting second, the Special Tuning Racing SEAT Leon driver attacked poleman Jason Plato (Chevrolet Cruze) in the opening stages.

Plato held firm against the more powerful turbo SEAT until Boardman hit the Chevrolet twice at the first corner, firing Plato into the barriers.

The incident brought out the safety car and Boardman slowed at the hairpin at the restart, causing a concertina effect that resulted in several cars clashing or taking to the grass. Worst affected was BTCC newcomer Aron Smith, who struck the back of Triple Eight Vauxhall team-mate James Nash and stopped on the track.

After another safety car period to clear up the mess, Boardman resumed in the lead. But the WSR BMW of Rob Collard got stronger and stronger as the race progressed.

The BMW applied intense pressure to Boardman, but the SEAT held on to win by just 0.197 seconds.

A little further back, Frank Wrathall's Dynojet NGTC Toyota Avensis took its second podium of the day, having forced a way past Tom Chilton's Arena Motorsport Ford Focus shortly after the second restart.

Honda pairing Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden also went by the Focus and fought a duel for the rest of the race. Shedden looked the quicker, but could not find a chink in the double champion's armour.

Mat Jackson seemed set to salvage good finish from a disastrous weekend as he charged up the field from the back, only to find more misfortune. After a great move at the hairpin to take seventh, he was chasing Chilton when bunching at the hairpin caught him out and he hit the back of the Focus. The damage was enough to put him out of the race.

That left Andrew Jordan's Eurotech Vauxhall Vectra to take seventh, from the Arena Ford of Tom Onslow-Cole and Nick Foster (WSR BMW).

Results - 27 laps:

Pos  Driver           Team/Car                  Time/Gap
 1.  Tom Boardman     Special Tuning SEAT     26m09.236s
 2.  Rob Collard      WSR BMW                   + 0.197s
 3.  Frank Wrathall   Dynojet Toyota            + 3.237s
 4.  Matt Neal        Honda                     + 6.755s
 5.  Gordon Shedden   Honda                     + 7.007s
 6.  Tom Chilton      Arena Ford                + 7.751s
 7.  Andrew Jordan    Eurotech Vauxhall         + 9.065s
 8.  Tom Onslow-Cole  Arena Ford               + 10.486s
 9.  Nick Foster      WSR BMW                  + 10.646s
10   Alex MacDowall   Chevrolet                + 10.997s
11.  Dave Newsham     Special Tuning SEAT      + 12.834s
12.  Daniel Welch     Welch Proton             + 18.659s
13.  Andy Neate       Arena Ford               + 23.592s
14.  Jeff Smith       Eurotech Vauxhall        + 26.191s
15.  James Nash       Triple 8 Vauxhall        + 27.228s
16   Liam Griffin     Motorbase Ford           + 33.909s
17.  Chris James      ES Chevrolet             + 46.977s

Retirements:

     Mat Jackson      Motorbase Ford             21 laps
     John George      Tech-Speed Chevrolet       21 laps
     Martin Byford    AmD VW                     20 laps
     Rob Austin       Rob Austin Audi            11 laps
     Aron Smith       Triple 8 Vauxhall           5 laps
     Jason Plato      Chevrolet                   3 laps
     Paul O'Neill     Tech-Speed Chevrolet         1 lap