Smith's pole disappears at first corner.

With his deal to drive in the 2005 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship coming together late in the day, it always was going to be a steep learning curve for VX Racing's Gavin Smith.

The Thruxton round of the series continued to be part of this learning curve, and after a second race of the day battling understeer, the was at least the bonus of starting the final race of the day from pole position, in the reverse top ten grid.

This benefit soon disappeared however, as Tom Chilton was a man on a mission at the first corner, with a wildly optimistic locked-up move which took out Smith from the race and also nearly removed VX Racing team-mate Colin Turkington from the runners too.

"It has been a really frustrating weekend for me," said Smith after the incident. "We have struggled with the balance of the car, but I was really looking forward to the third race and being on pole. Tom Chilton tried to stop his car on the grass and it just didn't work, he had nowhere to go but into me. It destroyed my race. I'm just glad this weekend is over. I'm looking forward to the next round at Brands Hatch and being able to put this weekend behind me."