Photo: PSP Images

Jason Plato leads a Subaru 1-2 at Knockhill to take his first win of the year

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Jason Plato has taken his first win since Race 1 at Knockhill last year, leading from lights-to-flag in his BMR Subaru Levorg GT, while third for Colin Turkington means the two-time champion has taken the lead of the championship in his West Surrey Racing BMW.

The 49-year-old launched off the line and led a four-car chain comprised of the two Subarus with team-mate Ashley Sutton behind him, followed by the two BMWs of Colin Turkington and Rob Collard throughout the bulk of the race.

Plato almost led for the entire race distance, except for a miscalculation heading onto the final lap, when he tried to let Sutton past to grab a bonus point for leading a lap on the straight, but was still ahead at the line.

Sutton returned the position before the end of the lap to allow Plato to take the victory, with Plato effectively leading every lap of the race.

James Cole helped secure a great result for the Subaru team after he was able to pass Tom Ingram’s Toyota for fifth into the first corner on lap 12, with Ingram left to finish sixth but the best-placed of the independent drivers.

Senna Proctor converted his season’s best qualifying result into his season’s best race finish, crossing the line seventh in his Power Maxed Vauxhall Astra after initially falling behind Dave Newsham’s BTC Racing Chevrolet Cruze.

Behind him, Adam Morgan made his way forward from tenth to finish eighth in the Ciceley Racing Mercedes-Benz A-Class, alos passing Dave Newsham’s Chevrolet with two laps to go.

Newsham would lose one further spot on the final lap to the charging Team Dynamics Honda Civic of Matt Neal, with the three-time champion storming through from 21st on the grid to finish in ninth, with Newsham completing the top ten.

Gordon Shedden, struggling on the harder tyres and with 75kg of success ballast, dropped to 11th in the final classification, and lost his championship lead as a result.

With Turkington on the podium, and setting the fastest lap, the Northern Irishman has taken the lead in the points, five points clear of team-mate Rob Collard, with Ash Sutton now in third, a further three points behind.

Race 2 will see Plato start from pole position on the soft tyre, but also now carrying 75kg of ballast for the first time this year at 14:17 BST.