Gordon Shedden has dramatic day chasing Jason Plato at Knockhill

Fifer Gordon Shedden was left kicking himself after a miscalculation of a few inches ruined what had been, up until that split second, an excellent outing in the British Touring Car Championship at Knockhill.

The 31-year-old from Dalgety Bay, who came into his home round of the series fourth in the championship and 33 points adrift of leader Jason Plato, won the opening race before helping his Team Honda outfit to a commanding 1-2 in the second of yesterday's triple-header.

But the Scot, who had carved his way from sixth on the grid in the day's closing race to lie third, threw it all away when he misjudged his line into the sweeping fast right-hander.

"I caught the corner a little bit out of line and the car came back and bit me," Shedden explained. "It all happened so fast there was nothing I could do. Then I had to stop and literally let the rest of the field pass before I could rejoin. It's a disappointing way to finish the day."

Starting second on the grid for the opener, he powered passed the Chevrolet of polesitter Alex MacDowall in his Team Honda Civic to lead into the first corner. The Scot controlled the race to win comfortably by 1.592 seconds. MacDowall was second and Steven Kane was third in his BMW.

In the day's second race, Shedden again looked on course for victory but was caught unawares by his Honda teammate Matt Neal as they approached the tight Hairpin.

"My car was carrying an extra 45kg of success ballast and that made braking a nightmare," Shedden added. "That allowed Matt to get passed me."

Championship leader Plato finished third before storming to victory ahead of Tom Onslow-Cole's Ford in the day's final race. Neal was third with Shedden recovering to finish ninth.

Plato heads to the final two rounds at Donington and Brands Hatch with a lead of 20 points over Neal. Shedden remains fourth, nine points behind Onslow-Cole in third and still 33 adrift of Plato.

But while Shedden enjoyed something of a mixed day, there were also highs and lows for a number of other Scots battling it out in the support races.

Former BTCC racer Jonathan Adam from Kirkcaldy destroyed the field in the Ginetta G50 cup race. Driving the guest car, the Scot led from pole position to win by 8.6secs from Nigel Moore having finished fourth earlier in the day. There as disappointment though for Golspie's Lewis Williamson. The 20-year-old started the day lying second in the British Formula Renault Championship but headed back to Sutherland having dropped to third.

Williamson stormed through the field from tenth to seventh on the opening lap of the first race before his car suffered damage when he was hit at the Hairpin. In the second race, he narrowly missed out on a podium after a thrilling drive.He heads into the final four races 11 points behind leader, Hungarian Tama's Pa'l Kiss and seven adrift of second-placed Tom Blomqvist.

There was better news for fellow Highlander David Newsham who clinched the Renault Clio Cup with two dominant wins, while the two principal Scots in the Porsche Carrera Cup impressed with their performances. Aberdeen's Glynn Geddie finished third behind winner and defending champ Tim Harvey in the opener before finishing seventh in the second race.

The most impressive performance came from 25-year-old Rory Butcher making his season's debut in the 2006 Celtic Racing Porsche.

The Dunfermline racer outperformed many of the more experienced drivers with newer and more powerful cars to finish fifth and sixth.