ROB Collard's 2004 Green Flag MSA British Touring Car Championship campaign suffered two blows at Silverstone - the first when knocked out of the opening race when holding fifth, and the second when his engine failed as he left the pits for the third, and final race.

In between, a strong drive from the back of the grid in race two saw the Hampshire driver lap Silverstone quicker than ever before in his Collard Racing Astra on his way to 12th place - an indication of what might have been in a frustrating weekend.

Rob, from Eversley, put in his best performance of the season so far in qualifying on Saturday afternoon, taking seventh overall on a track that started wet and dried as the 30-minute session went on.

Race winners at Silverstone were Matt Neal, James Thompson and Honda's Tom Chilton, who chalked up his first BTCC success after Anthony Reid and Neal had taken to the grass late in the race to let him through.

The Thruxton-based Sureterm team had something to celebrate when Kelvin Burt marked his return to the BTCC with fourth place in the Vauxhall Astra in race one. His teammate Carl Breeze was fifth in the Alfa Romeo in the third race.

But it was another disappointing day for New Forest driver Justin Keen whose Edenbridge BMW was off the pace. The best he could manage was 14th place. Alton's James Kaye fought his way through to ninth in the last race of the day.