Fabrizio Giovanardi admitted he was angered by the incident in race three which saw him lose out on vital points in the latest rounds of the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship at Donington Park.

The Italian was lying in second place behind Rob Collard in the final race of the day when he was tipped into a spin by Harry Vaulkhard on the exit of McLeans, with his VX Racing Vectra going across the grass on the infield.

Although he was able to rejoin in sixth, and later passed Vaulkhard for fifth, it led to a frustrating finish to the day for the defending champion who had earlier had to settle for eighth in race one from the back of the field before battling to third in race two.

However, having lost ground in the title race, he admitted to being far from happy at the end of the weekend.

“There was little I could do in the first race,” he said. “I was caught up in everyone else's battles and lost time in the middle of a bunch of drivers who were fighting for nothing. Even though I finished third in race two I was disappointed as I couldn't catch Matt [Neal] and James [Thompson] who were both running with ballast.

“Race three could have been a really good result, but I lost out again, and I'm not happy about the move that Vaulkhard made. It ruined both our races.”