Frank Wrathall returned to touring car racing with a victory in the first Super Touring Car Trophy race of the Silverstone Classic weekend.

The former BTCC driver made a great start from 11th, getting up into the top three almost immediately before splitting the Hondas of James Dodd and Stewart Whyte after just one lap.

Dodd then drove an impressive defensive drive for the first half of the race before Wrathall made his move going in to the Maggots and Becketts complex, before storming away and setting fastest lap after fastest lap in the Audi 80 Quattro.

During their battle, the top two had pulled out a giant lead over the rest of the field, with Stewart Whyte driving a lonely race to third, despite a clutch issue allowing Graeme Dodd to close up in the last couple of laps. The clutch problem is likely to keep Whyte out of action for the second race on Sunday.

Fourth place saw a strong battle between Graeme Dodd, Neil Smith and Simon Garrad. Smith held fourth for half the race before Garrad worked his way past in the Opel Vectra, although the latter would soon lose out as the pair came together going in to Stowe corner.

Dodd then worked his way past Smith, with Mark Jones and Patrick Watts, who had spun on lap two, passing Garrad, who would go on to finish in eighth place. Ninth saw Chris Ward in the Jaguar XJS, despite starting from 29th on the grid, with Jan Bot rounding out the top ten in the BMW E30 M3.

Adam Morgan would go on to finish 17th in the Mazda 323 from 31st on the grid, while the rest of the BTCC alumni struggled. Steve Soper and Tim Harvey both retired early, while John Cleland ended in 29th, a lap down after a misfire forced him to bring the Vauxhall Vectra in at the end of the first pace lap.