Two podiums and front-running pace all weekend at Knockhill only told part of the story for Rob Austin, who experienced delight and frustration in equal measures as a win eluded him.

Austin started in second for the first race and was running in the same position when an incident with Honda Racing Team’s Gordon Shedden dropped him to fifth. But as the action unfolded in front of him, he was able to climb back to second at the flag and put pressure on eventual winner Matt Neal.

Race two saw Austin and Neal make contact around the opening corners, before another concertina effect at Scotsman saw him make contact with Shedden, who spun down to last, while Austin continued to finish third.

And to cap off a day packed with incidents, Jason Plato made contact with the Audi A4 at the hairpin in the final race, putting Austin out with damage.

Both Honda drivers blamed Austin for the race two incident with Shedden, but Austin had a different viewpoint, and was also upset with the Scot for their race one clash.

He said: “Everything was fine and I was waiting for my moment with Tordoff who was leading. Then Shedden decided to get rough and fire me off onto the grass exiting Clark’s. I was on slicks on wet grass at high speed and for a moment thought it was going to end very badly in the wall.”

Describing the start of race two, he added: “I got a better start than Neal and went for the lead into the first corner but he clearly didn’t like that so I got the typical Honda shove from him which put me off the track. But it’s backfired on them – I managed to control the car but as I came back onto the track there was a bit of chaos and his own team-mate got turned around.”

The incidents with the Honda duo were clearly still at the forefront of Austin’s mind when he summed up his overall weekend.

He said: “In essence it’s been a very successful weekend. We’ve capitalised on a circuit where we know we can be strong – I also love Knockhill and being on the podium here, particularly with such a huge and enthusiastic crowd – is always a special experience.

“But while I’m delighted with our results I can’t help feeling frustrated – I really wanted a win and had the car and opportunity to achieve that in races one and two. Unfortunately I was denied that because certain drivers don’t think I deserve to be at the front and I shouldn’t be allowed to overtake them. Given time I’m sure they will come to realise that they can only get away with treating people like that for so long. I know I’m not the only one who’s fed up with it.

“But I won’t let it affect what I’m doing on track or the way our team goes about our racing. If they want to do that then fine but it’s not our style. We’ll continue to fight fair and go for the wins at Rockingham.”