It was a positive weekend north of the border for Maximum Motorsport as Stewart Lines achieved the team's best result in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship with 17th in round 20 from Fife's Knockhill circuit.

The green-and-black liveried Ford Focus qualified 29th on Saturday, leaving Lines with a quite the task on his hands at what is a notoriously tight and tricky circuit to make progress on. Despite this, the Midlander did manage to move forward.

In race one, Lines held station as Ollie Jackson in the AmD Tuning.com looked to make a move after the S3 had dispatched Mark Howards VW CC off the line.

The Focus was demoted by Jackson after a four-lap battle before contact for Aron Smith handed a spot back and Lines jumped Matt Simpson on lap five to find his eventual finishing spot – 25th for race one.

Further progress came in race two with the Sutton Coldfield outfit electing to use the soft compound tyre. Contact with Jeff Smith into turn one demoted the Maximum machine down to 28th, sparking a spirited fightback.

Lines took advantage of scuffling up ahead as Martin Depper and Warren Scott tripped and found themselves in the gravel in two separate incidents before the safety car was deployed.

On the restart, Howard was caught napping by Lines with a well-timed move and defended the BKR man's advances as he tried to retaliate. With a near full race distance still to come, Lines got his head down and focussed on the cars ahead. Ash Sutton, Ollie Jackson, Matt Simpson, Hunter Abbott and Alex Martin were reeled in and eventually in his sights. By lap twenty, he'd passed all but the latter.

In the closing stages, Lines did make it past the Dextra Racing man and ended a strong showing 17th – passing Dan Welch on track and making up more places through drama for Tom Ingram and a pair of cars in contact up ahead.

Race three, and a P17 grid slot, offered up the opportunity of maiden points but contact with Alex Martin put pay to those hopes, a recovery drive to 22nd was scant consolation.

Lines was pleased with steps made over the Knockhill weekend, and is aiming to score points over the final three events of the season in what is an improving Ford Focus.

"I do like Knockhill and the linkup with Welch Motorsport and a new number one mechanic coming in, in Les White, it's been a breath of fresh air recently," said Lines.

"I've felt like I've driven well at Croft and Snetterton and I was on it all weekend barring qualifying – I felt quite racy.

"I was up there on pace with a fair few guys who have normally been just a little bit ahead of us, like Team HARD and the couple of Subarus in and around us, so that was a big plus and I was pleased with that. We think we've got the car working a bit better in the past few.

"Race two was fantastic for us and heading into race three, but for contact with Alex Martin, we were looking like we had a chance of points and that was definitely our aim.

"The signs are good. We're getting towards the edge of what this kit can do ahead of us switching to the new RML parts for next season. We're not looking at finding big chunks of time anymore, it's just little bits that we can try and look for that can hopefully add up.

"I like Rockingham, Silverstone and Brands Hatch GP. The're all places I've been to and won at each in club racing. Hopefully over those last three weekends we can get a few points on the board.

"For the size of operation we're running we're happy. We've had success in the VW Cup and we feel we can bring some of knowhow into the BTCC effort. People underestimate the challenge and the balance you need to have in terms of quick machinery as well as a quick driver but we're improving.

"It was a three-year deal for us so we're making progress that I'm happy with and we're getting better every week."

Ollie Jackson topped Knockhill's Dunlop #ForeverForward running with 17 places gained over the weekend but West Surrey Racing’s Rob Collard retained his overall lead despite a mixed three rounds in Scotland.

The weekend started well for AmD Tuning.com with Jackson’s Audi S3 showing pace through free practice, but his hopes of converting that into a strong qualifying performance were ended by an off into the gravel at the Arnold Clark Chicane; an off that left him at the back of the grid for race one.

Jackson worked his way forwards from 31^st on the grid to take the flag in 23^rd spot in the opener and was hopeful of building on that in race two before being forced to retire with an exhaust issue – forcing retirement on safety grounds and leaving him to battle his way through the field again in race three.

With the issue fixed for race three and a series of revisions made to the car, the Audi was at its most competitive and, avoiding some chaos around him, Ollie fought his way forwards into the top 20 but fell just short of a points finish.

“I have to hold my hands up in qualifying as I made a stupid mistake and have been kicking myself for it ever since,” he said. “I’ve never gone off in qualifying before but I was just pushing too hard on cold tyres, and I felt so bad for the team after the work they had put in in recent weeks.

“Ultimately, that played a big part in how race day panned out and having made up places in race one, I was hoping to do the same in race two until I was forced to retire. Unfortunately it meant we were too far back to really make the most of the improvements we found for race three, when the car was at its best and we had some good pace.

“That’s reflected in the fact that we came from the back to finish inside the top 20 but unfortunately, it’s a weekend where we’ve not been able to secure the end result we deserved.”

With seven events completed, the results and standings are as follows – Drivers’ Championship leader Rob Collard still heads the pack:

Dunlop #ForeverForward drivers of the weekend

1 Ollie Jackson 17
2 Martin Depper 16
3 Adam Morgan 15

Dunlop #ForeverForward overall standings

1 Rob Collard 107
2 Martin Depper 97
3 Rob Austin 81

Plato, Neal and Jackson take win apiece as Tordoff extends advantage

Mat Jackson produced a memorable defensive drive in the final BTCC encounter at Knockhill, as the Motorbase Performance driver fended off a gaggle of cars to claim his fourth win of the season.

It was status quo in the opening laps as initially Jackson led the squabbling duo of Rob Collard and Colin Turkington. That scrap spilled over on lap eight as Turkington's Subaru tapped Collard's BMW into a lurid slide. As the damaged Team JCT600 with GardX car straightened out further contact ensued and both cars were fired onto the grass and out of contention.

This brought Sam Tordoff, Jason Plato and Gordon Shedden into play as Ford battled BMW, Subaru and Honda. The quartet remained inseparable throughout the remainder of the race, but all attempts to make a pass were rebuffed by the car ahead.

The quartet were covered by just 1.2 seconds as the chequered flag fell, but it was Jackson punching the air as he roared by his delighted team members on the pit wall. Tordoff and Plato completed the podium, with the Halfords Yuasa Racing duo of Shedden and Matt Neal finishing fourth and fifth respectively.

"That was mega," said Jackson. "He wasn’t going to get that win off me! I was determined it would be ours. A rear-wheel drive car around Knockhill is hard to beat so when I saw Rob (Collard) go, I thought ‘great’. Then young Sam (Tordoff) came at us but I managed to hold him off.

"It was fantastic really. He wasn’t going to get past me! It was a tough battle. We had the legs in sector one but he was quicker with traction through the back straight, Clarke and out of the hairpin. He drove a good race and fair play to him for the way he went about it."

Rob Austin scored another impressive top six – at a circuit where he often excels – as the upward trend in form continues for Handy Motorsport.

Mercedes pair Adam Morgan and Aiden Moffat fought throughout with the WIX Racing man eventually getting the better of his younger Laser Tools Racing stablemate. Andrew Jordan and Jack Goff rounded out the top ten.

2016 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Round 21 – Knockhill:

1 Mat JACKSON (GBR) Motorbase Performance 25:19.259 (81.05 mph)
2 Sam TORDOFF (GBR) Team JCT600 Racing with GardX +0.236s
3 Jason PLATO (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +0.804s
4 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +1.297s
5 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +2.256s
6 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) Handy Motorsport +3.933s
7 Adam MORGAN (GBR) WIX Racing +4.326s
8 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +8.875s
9 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) Motorbase Performance +9.316s
10 Jack GOFF (GBR) Team IHG Rewards Club +10.196s
11 Dave NEWSHAM (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +11.386s
12 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +11.590s
13 James COLE (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +11.896s
14 Dan WELCH (GBR) Goodestone Racing +12.758s
15 Jake HILL (GBR) RCIB Insurance Racing +16.117s
16 Martin DEPPER (GBR) Eurotech Racing +17.215s
17 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +21.381s
18 Aron SMITH (IRL) BKR +24.587s
19 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmD Tuning.com +27.894s
20 Michael EPPS (GBR) RCIB Insurance Racing +30.503s
21 Alex MARTIN (GBR) Dextra Racing +31.271s
22 Stewart LINES (GBR) Maximum Motorsport +31.513s
23 Mark HOWARD (GBR) BKR +47.219s
24 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +47.847s
25 Warren SCOTT (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +1 lap
DNF Hunter ABBOTT (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +13 laps
DNF Josh COOK (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +19 laps
DNF Robert COLLARD (GBR) Team JCT600 Racing with GardX +19 laps
DNF Jeff SMITH (GBR) Eurotech Racing +21 laps
DNF Ash SUTTON (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance

Triple champion Matt Neal clinched a Knockhill classic as the Halfords Yuasa Racing driver stormed through from eighth on the grid to win race two of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship event at the Fife track.

Neal gradually made his way up the order while the Subarus battled the BMWs for supremacy at the head of the pack.

Long-time leader Jason Plato began to struggle late on as he took turns on baulking up Sam Tordoff and Colin Turkington behind him. Tordoff and Turkington swapped positions on several occasions but neither could make a move by Plato's Levorg, as the race one winner produced a brilliant defensive drive.

Neal nipped by both Turkington and Team IHG Rewards Club's Jack Goff after the pair made contact on the exit of the final hairpin, and when Plato strategically held up Tordoff again on the penultimate lap Neal eyed his opportunity to blast by both.

You could throw a blanket over all three cars as they shot across the line to start the final lap, but when the dust settled it was Neal from Tordoff and Plato taking the podium positions.

Turkington had to settle for fourth while title contender Rob Collard delivered his own standout performance to take fifth, having started from 17th on the grid. Mat Jackson shuffled Goff's BMW further down the order to claim sixth, with the sister Ford of Andrew Jordan looking rather second hand in eighth.

Scottish duo Gordon Shedden and Aiden Moffat completed the top ten classification.

Matt Neal said: "I don’t know what to say. I thought we’d have a chance one minute then I thought we’d have absolutely no chance. We got bottled up behind Andy Jordan early on but once we got past it was different. I got up behind Jason (Plato) and he was playing with Sam (Tordoff), then Jason really seemed to start to struggle with tyres. That gave me the opportunity to pounce. Sam’s been fast all weekend. When he cleared Jason, I thought that would be it. Our car was monstrous right through to the end. It bodes well for the last one with Flash on the soft tyres.

Sam Tordoff said: "It was chaos at times – we were all going for it! For a lot of it I just didn’t know where to go! We made a few tweaks to the car after race one and it was a different beast. Jason (Plato) started to struggle with his tyres and it gave me the chance. I was right with him until Matt Neal made his move then I followed him through at the hairpin – he stuck his nose in where it hurts. There’s a long way to go in the championship so we’re not thinking about the future and we’re not too worried about the long term right now. We keep scoring points and what will be will be."

Jason Plato said: "Everything was going okay. For some reason I then had a big moment at the hairpin. The oversteer was getting worse and worse. It took me a while to recalibrate. When Colin (Turkington) tried to pass me early on, I got a knock and wondered if I got a slow puncture. It was great fun and as much as I tried, I just couldn’t quite hang on. Before the race, the target was the podium and I was fairly confident that if the balance stayed the same I could work out what to do. A podium’s a podium so I’ve got to be pleased with that. I’m starting to understand the car a bit more and Colin’s probably half-a-tenth quicker still. His intel’s a bit better than mine on these cars at the moment but we’re coming!"

2016 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Round 20 – Knockhill:

1 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing 25:42.020 (79.86 mph)
2 Sam TORDOFF (GBR) Team JCT600 Racing with GardX +1.249s
3 Jason PLATO (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +2.340s
4 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +2.830s
5 Robert COLLARD (GBR) Team JCT600 Racing with GardX +2.836s
6 Mat JACKSON (GBR) Motorbase Performance +3.640s
7 Jack GOFF (GBR) Team IHG Rewards Club +4.175s
8 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) Motorbase Performance +4.756s
9 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +5.554s
10 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +6.706s
11 Adam MORGAN (GBR) WIX Racing +10.914s
12 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) Handy Motorsport +13.192s
13 Jake HILL (GBR) RCIB Insurance Racing +15.079s
14 Dave NEWSHAM (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +18.559s
15 Jeff SMITH (GBR) Eurotech Racing +19.576s
16 Josh COOK (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +25.630s
17 Stewart LINES (GBR) Maximum Motorsport +32.399s
18 Alex MARTIN (GBR) Dextra Racing +33.788s
19 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +34.434s
20 Dan WELCH (GBR) Goodestone Racing +35.408s
21 James COLE (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +35.538s
22 Hunter ABBOTT (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +1 lap
23 Mark HOWARD (GBR) BKR +1 lap
DNF Aron SMITH (IRL) BKR +2 laps
DNF Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +2 laps
DNF Michael EPPS (GBR) RCIB Insurance Racing +3 laps
DNF Warren SCOTT (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +7 laps
DNF Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmD Tuning.com+12 laps
DNF Martin DEPPER (GBR) Eurotech Racing +18 laps

Jason Plato celebrated his 500th BTCC race in style by taking a commanding lights-to-flag victory at Knockhill, becoming the 11th different winner in this incredible season so far.

The Silverline Subaru BMR Racing driver made a quick getaway off the line, building a strong gap over the first half of the race. He was being reeled in by the BMW of Jack Goff in the latter stages, and also had to contend with a safety car period, but the BTCC legend held on to claim his 95th race win.

The race began in steady fashion with the top six drivers – all running the Dunlop SportMaxx soft tyre – holding station on the opening lap. Matt Neal's Honda nudged Adam Morgan's Mercedes into a spin further down the order, shortly before Andrew Jordan traded positions with Colin Turkington for fifth at the start of the second tour.

Turkington's race was compromised by the move as it was clear his Subaru Levorg was quicker Jordan's Ford for much of the contest. The duo ran side-by-side during lap eight but Turkington had to wait until lap 14 before he could finally snatch back fifth place.

Goff had passed team-mate Sam Tordoff and Tom Ingram's Toyota by that point, and now up to second, began carving into Plato's lead.

The safety car was deployed on lap 20 after Dan Welch tipped Warren Scott's Subaru into the gravel, which ironically threatened to derail team-mate Plato's chances of victory. Scott's Levorg was retrieved by the marshals and the race was soon underway, with Plato managing the remaining laps with consummate ease as a late challenge from Goff failed to materialise.

"Before this weekend I wasn’t getting caught up in any of the numbers," said Plato. "You cast your mind back to where it all started – struggling in single-seaters with no money, and doorstepping Sir Frank Williams. 500 races later and we’re still winning. Whilst we all wanted to get that first win at Subaru, did it matter too much to me? It was just great to see the cars winning come what may out of the car. In the car, I was obviously disappointed! The ball was just yet to roll my way."

"Everybody’s been fantastic with me this year," revealed WSR's Goff, after scoring his best result of 2016. "They’ve given me a great car and it was about time I repaid them with a bit of silverware for this side of the garage. The tyres drifted towards the end there but before the safety car I was really closing in on (Jason) so it came at a bad time for us. I spoke to my engineer about having a go but I’d got past before I’d finished asking!"

The excitement in the closing laps came from Turkington as he carved his way past Tordoff with a sensational move at the restart. He then grabbed the final podium position with an expert late move by Ingram at the hairpin on the penultimate lap.

"I really enjoyed that," enthused Turkington. "The car was obviously strong. I lost a positon to Andy (Jordan) on the inside of the hairpin early on. I got bunched up the inside and he outdragged me down the straight. It was just about being patient though. I knew the race would come to me and my pace was electric once I got past AJ. I’m really pleased for the team – another double podium, so it’s great."

Jordan eventually claimed a lonely sixth, ahead of the impressive Dave Newsham. The series returnee starred throughout for Power Maxed Racing, rewarding the squad with its best result of the season.

Halfords Yuasa Racing duo Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden claimed eight and ninth respectively, whilst Handy Motorsport's Rob Austin rounded out the top ten.

2016 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Round 19 – Knockhill:

1 Jason PLATO (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing 25:30.213 (80.47 mph)
2 Jack GOFF (GBR) Team IHG Rewards Club +0.503s
3 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +1.003s
4 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +2.375s
5 Sam TORDOFF (GBR) Team JCT600 Racing with GardX +2.781s
6 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) Motorbase Performance +4.034s
7 Dave NEWSHAM (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +5.265s
8 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +7.605s
9 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +8.143s
10 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) Handy Motorsport +8.357s
11 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +9.206s
12 Mat JACKSON (GBR) Motorbase Performance +10.160s
13 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +11.295s
14 Martin DEPPER (GBR) Eurotech Racing +11.346s
15 James COLE (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +11.495s
16 Jake HILL (GBR) RCIB Insurance Racing +12.307s
17 Robert COLLARD (GBR) Team JCT600 Racing with GardX +12.581s
18 Josh COOK (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +13.652s
19 Michael EPPS (GBR) RCIB Insurance Racing +14.484s
20 Hunter ABBOTT (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +14.863s
21 Dan WELCH (GBR) Goodestone Racing +15.114s
22 Adam MORGAN (GBR) WIX Racing +15.991s
23 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmD Tuning.com+16.868s
24 Michael CAINE (GBR) TLC/RCIB Insurance Racing +18.868s
25 Stewart LINES (GBR) Maximum Motorsport +19.479s
26 Mark HOWARD (GBR) BKR +21.057s
27 Alex MARTIN (GBR) Dextra Racing +1 laps
DNF Jeff SMITH (GBR) Eurotech Racing +8 laps
DNF Warren SCOTT (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +10 laps
DNF Aron SMITH (IRL) BKR +14 laps
DNF Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +18 laps

Jason Plato is set to contest his 500^th Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship race later this afternoon. A career that has spanned nearly 20 years has seen the tin top superstar amass some astonishing statistics along the way.

His BTCC career kicked off with a pole position at Donington Park back in 1997, and the man will start from the same position in his 500^th contest at Knockhill.

Two championships, 94 race wins, 220 podiums and 49 pole positions provide just some of the reasons why Plato is arguably the most coveted BTCC driver of them all.

We caught up with the man himself before his milestone weekend…

James Cole is firmly into the swing of life as a member of the Silverline Subaru BMR Racing, with the quartet now pushing towards the head of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship pack.

Double champions Colin Turkington and Jason Plato are now regularly scrapping for podiums – solid points at the very least – with the former also joint leading the wins tally.

Cole is looking to learn from the wealth of knowledge gathered over years and hundreds of BTCC weekends by his experienced team-mates, and highlighted the openness of the BMR outfit as key to his learning process and the team's wider success.

“The relationship between the engineers and the four drivers is very, very good,” said Cole. “Everything is kept open and it’s never in question.

“Colin and Jason are both very accepting of questions that I ask, as well as any Warren (Scott) has.

“They have years and years of experience which you would be silly not to try and use. They understand it’s for the greater good and if their help brings us along then it’s going to help them because it’ll push them along too.

“It’s a process, and our aim is a 1-2-3-4 on the grid and in races just to annoy everyone else! We’re not quite there yet but we’re definitely getting closer.”

Snetterton saw a unique result for the outfit, as all four of its Subaru Levorgs were placed in the top ten. Cole’s 10^th was a sign of personal progress, with the Southport man looking to make his mark in the series.

“To have all the cars in the top ten at Snetterton was great. I let Warren through after some discussion on the radio as he was quicker and fighting with Matt Neal.

“It’s good to have that relationship where you’re there to help each other out. That’s what it’s about. It’s about where the team is at the end of the year as much as our own results.

“I still feel I haven’t yet proven myself in the championship but this is the closest I’ve been. My strategy for Snetterton was working out well until a driveshaft failure put me out of race two. Sometimes things happen and you just have to get on with it.”

Onto this weekend at Knockhill, Cole placed his Subaru into P14 while team-mate Plato showed just what the Levorg is ultimately capable of around the tight Scottish circuit with a stunning last-gasp pole position ahead of his 500th BTCC start.

With his half-term at Motorbase last season, Cole was just getting his head around the front-wheel drive Ford Focus. A return to rear drive at BMR has been to his benefit, given much of his career has been spent in such machinery – and Knockhill should provide characteristics to suit.

“It’s unique, it’s nothing like any track we race on in the UK up and down the country in the BTCC,” continued Cole. “It has its own set of challenges and we have to have our cars suited to the circuit.”

“It’s difficult to get right because a lot of the circuits we go to have similar characteristics in sections.

“We come here and it’s a completely different kettle of fish. It’s difficult to match to the car and to match it as a driver.

“Testing is limited around here and it’s not a circuit that we really go to. It’s about trying to recall memories and lessons learned from racing here in any other championship in the past and knowing all the little tricks.

“This car suits this circuit. Rear-wheel drive suits me a lot better and it’s making sense to me.

“I was just getting my head around the Motorbase Ford last year but I’ve grown up driving these cars. You get back in one and you feel at home and you’ve so much more mental room. In front-wheel drive cars I was thinking about everything much more. It should be organic and it just wasn’t.

Jason Plato, Tom Ingram, Sam Tordoff and Jack Goff spoke to btcc.net following an enthralling Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship qualifying session at Knockhill.

JP snatched a last-gasp pole from Tom Ingram ahead of his 500th BTCC race start. Sam Tordoff has an opportunity to capitalise in race one and put pay to team-mate Rob Collard's slender standings lead, with the latter lining up P18. The third portion of the West Surrey Racing triumvirate, Jack Goff managed a season-best fourth sport.

Silverline Subaru BMR Racing star Jason Plato will start his 500th Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship race from pole position, after the tin top legend set a sensational last gasp lap record during qualifying at Knockhill.

Plato has scored at least one race win in each of the BTCC seasons he has contested, and tomorrow he will be searching for his maiden success with Subaru during his milestone contest.

The double champion had been fighting at the front throughout the day – setting the pace in the opening practice session – but was forced into waiting until the final seconds of qualifying to snatch his 49th career pole position.

Tom Ingram was close to claiming his third pole of the season, but the Speedworks Motorsport driver had to settle for second after Plato’s performance. Ingram’s Toyota Avensis has shown stellar form on Saturdays during the 2016 campaign so far, and the young charger will now start alongside the BTCC’s most decorated racer in tomorrow’s opener in Fife – evoking memories of their epic battle at Rockingham last season.

Sam Tordoff grabbed third for Team JCT600 with GardX, representing an extremely good result for the ballast-laden BMW. The Yorkshireman – currently lying second in the overall standings – edged out West Surrey Racing stablemate Jack Goff, who produced his best qualifying result of the season in fourth.

The third WSR car of Rob Collard didn’t fare so well, however, as he could only manage 18th. Incredibly the championship leader has only qualified inside the top ten on one occasion this season.

Colin Turkington made it two Subarus in the top five as he fended off two fellow former champions in the shape of Andrew Jordan and Matt Neal. Jordan was a real spectacle throughout both practice and qualifying as he wrestled his Motorbase Performance Ford Focus over and around the contours of the 1.27-mile Knockhill circuit.

Adam Morgan sat out the final five minutes of the session, watching his WIX Racing Mercedes A-Class slip down the order to eighth as the chequered flag fell, whilst Rob Austin claimed ninth – a first top ten in qualifying for Handy Motorsport, building on his podium last time out at Snetterton.

Series returnee Dave Newsham – standing in this weekend for Power Maxed Racing’s Kelvin Fletcher – claimed an impressive tenth at his home circuit.

Neal’s Honda team-mate – reigning champion Gordon Shedden – endured a difficult session in front of his passionate and partisan home crowd. He had been languishing way down the order until late on, but the Scotsman eventually clocked a lap good enough for 11th.

The top 26 cars from the 31-strong field were separated by less than a second, making this the closest qualifying session of the season so far.

Rounds 19, 20 and 21 of the 2016 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship take place at Knockhill tomorrow, with all the action being screened live and exclusively on ITV4 from 11am.

Jason Plato said: “Going into the last lap I knew I had the pace in the car, we just had to get a clean lap in around here with the traffic. Every one I did was getting spoiled in one way or another. I’m chuffed with that and I think I’ll get a strong start tomorrow. Everything has to be perfect around here. I was relieved to get the lap in and had I not got pole I’d have been frustrated. We’ve got a good balance and we’re in good shape.”

Tom Ingram said: “It could have been even better as we set that lap on old tyres, but it was my mistake with losing the new set out there. We know I’m going to get mugged off the line by some of the rear-wheel drive cars, but if we’re inside the top five at the end of the first lap then we’ll be lucky. We’re in a decent place though and the car feels good – we’ll give it our best shot.”

Sam Tordoff said: “That was more than a tenth quicker than last year’s pole, which we actually thought would be good enough. We can be really pleased with that considering we have 66kgs on board, and particularly as those around us are carrying far less weight. The BMW is fantastic around here – it always is – but in truth that adds a little bit of pressure. We’re expected to deliver this weekend and we need to hammer home that advantage. We need to score some strong points tomorrow and we’ve given ourselves a good chance of doing so.”

Jack Goff said: “We’re up where we should be finally. I’m happy but I’m also frustrated as I was a tenth and a half up on the lap, but the traffic meant I lost a bit of concentration in the final sector. We can race from there and we have quite a light car too. We’ve been at the sharp end all day and the race pace looks good. We need three solid results here to get ourselves back up the table.”

2016 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Qualifying – Knockhill:

1 Jason PLATO (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing 51.521s
2 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +0.021s
3 Sam TORDOFF (GBR) Team JCT600 Racing with GardX +0.030s
4 Jack GOFF (GBR) Team IHG Rewards Club +0.046s
5 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +0.098s
6 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) Motorbase Performance +0.297s
7 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +0.359s
8 Adam MORGAN (GBR) WIX Racing +0.378s
9 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) Handy Motorsport +0.391s
10 Dave NEWSHAM (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +0.437s
11 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +0.462s
12 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +0.463s
13 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +0.494s
14 James COLE (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +0.541s
15 Mat JACKSON (GBR) Motorbase Performance +0.584s
16 Martin DEPPER (GBR) Eurotech Racing +0.585s
17 Josh COOK (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +0.606s
18 Robert COLLARD (GBR) Team JCT600 Racing with GardX +0.644s
19 Jake HILL (GBR) RCIB Insurance Racing +0.669s
20 Michael EPPS (GBR) RCIB Insurance Racing +0.748s
21 Warren SCOTT (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +0.768s
22 Jeff SMITH (GBR) Eurotech Racing +0.829s
23 Aron SMITH (IRL) BKR +0.845s
24 Hunter ABBOTT (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +0.886s
25 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +0.936s
26 Dan WELCH (GBR) Goodestone Racing +0.996s
27 Michael CAINE (GBR) TLC/RCIB Insurance Racing +1.095s
28 Alex MARTIN (GBR) Dextra Racing +1.411s
29 Stewart LINES (GBR) Maximum Motorsport +1.421s
30 Mark HOWARD (GBR) BKR +1.947s
31 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmD Tuning.com +2.402s