Local driver Rory Butcher dedicated his victory to fellow BTCC racer Sam Tordoff and his family following the sad news that their new born baby had passed away, in the opening race at Knockhill, after defending a strong late challenge from Andrew Jordan.
Butcher took an immediate lead, while Jordan powered his WSR BMW inside the Team Dynamics Honda of Dan Cammish to grab an early second spot.
BTCC returnee Mike Bushell would be the first retirement of the weekend after contact with Ollie Jackson; breaking his front left suspension and forcing him in to a spin.
Nic Hamilton found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time as he was collected by Michael Crees after contact with Bobby Thompson. Both Hamilton and Crees would be out of the race as the safety car was called to clear the stricken Focus.
With the race extended due to a long safety car period, racing was resumed on lap eight, and Butcher continued in the lead, although he was struggling with a loss of second gear.
Chilton made a bold pass into the top three using the incline while turning into the hairpin.
Ashley Sutton‘s race ended early when he went through the gravel with a broken suspension, crabbing his way back to the pit lane after Sutton tried to put his Subaru down the inside of Matt Neal’s Honda over a battle for tenth place; Neal limped back to the pits from damage and both drivers had to retire.
Despite being in the top-three, Chilton wasn’t finished and attempted to pass Turkington around the outside of the hairpin. The defending champions wasn’t ready to yield the position and run Chilton out to the edge of the track, forcing the Motorbase driver to drop down the order.
With Butcher out front and Turkington valiantly defending his second place, Cammish was now up to third ahead of Senna Proctor, Chris Smiley and Chilton.
The top ten was rounded out by Tom Ingram, Adam Morgan, and Jake Hill who were all locked in to their own battle.
2019 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Round 22 – Knockhill
1 Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Cobra Sport AmD AutoAid/RCIB Insurance 27 laps
2 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) BMW Pirtek Racing +0.268s
3 Dan CAMMISH (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +1.444s
4 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +1.614s
5 Senna PROCTOR (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +2.298s
6 Chris SMILEY (GBR) BTC Racing +2.960s
7 Tom CHILTON (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher +3.406s
8 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Team Toyota GB with Ginsters +3.817s
9 Adam MORGAN (GBR) Mac Tools with Ciceley Motorsport +4.659s
10 Jake HILL (GBR) TradePriceCars.com +5.381s
11 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +10.156s
12 Jason PLATO (GBR) Sterling Insurance with Power Maxed Racing +23.724s
13 Josh COOK (GBR) BTC Racing +23.753s
14 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Simpson Racing +24.167s
15 Tom OLIPHANT (GBR) Team BMW +24.296s
16 Carl BOARDLEY (GBR) RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport +28.454s
17 Daniel ROWBOTTOM (GBR) Cataclean Racing with Ciceley Motorsport +29.958s
18 Bobby THOMPSON (GBR) GKR Scaffolding with Autobrite Direct +30.801s
19 Jack GOFF (GBR) RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport +32.237s
20 Mark BLUNDELL (GBR) TradePriceCars.com +33.619s
21 Rob SMITH (GBR) Excelr8 Motorsport +37.876s
22 Sam OSBORNE (GBR) Excelr8 Motorsport +38.876s
23 Rob COLLARD (GBR) Sterling Insurance with Power Maxed Racing +4 laps
24 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher +5 laps
25 Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team Parker Racing +10 laps
26 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +16 laps
27 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +16 laps
28 Nicolas HAMILTON (GBR) ROKiT Racing with Motorbase +26 laps
29 Mike BUSHELL (GBR) Cobra Sport AmD AutoAid/RCIB Insurance +26 laps
30 Michael CREES (GBR) GKR Scaffolding with Autobrite Direct +26 laps
