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Matt Neal takes second BTCC win at Oulton Park in race three

Matt Neal scored his second British Touring Car victory of the day at Oulton Park in a dramatic finale

The WSR BMW of Tom Onslow-Cole led from pole and was initially followed by team-mate Nick Foster, up from row two.

Fine first laps from reigning champion Neal (works Honda) and Jason Plato (works MG) got them up to third and fourth. Neal then forced his way by Foster at Island hairpin, with Plato following at the Knickerbrook chicane.

The two champions then closed on Onslow-Cole, but before they got there Liam Griffin crashed his Motorbase Ford Focus at Druids, bringing out the safety car.

After several laps the race restarted, only for Rob Collad's BMW to dive down the inside of Andrew Jordan's Eurotech Civic at Old Hall. Collard ran wide into Jordan, forcing the Honda onto the grass and into the barriers. The safety car came out again.

That set up a final six-lap dash to the flag. Onslow-Cole led away, but Neal lunged down the inside at Island hairpin. The BMW gave him room, lost the lead, and was also overtaken by Plato at the following chicane.

Plato looked set to challenge Neal, but a couple of minor errors - combined with an Onslow-Cole revival - meant he was never close enough to make a move. Neal therefore took his second win of the day, with Plato, Onslow-Cole and Gordon Shedden all crossing the line within a 1.1 seconds of the victor.

Lea Wood's Vauxhall Vectra held off a charging Collard to take fifth, while Mat Jackson - who had several clashes during the race, including removing Dan Welch's Proton on the run to Lodge - overtook Foster late on to take seventh.

Results - 18 laps:

Pos  Driver          Team                  Time/gap
 1.  Matt Neal        Honda              32m00.812s
 2.  Jason Plato      MG                   + 0.324s
 3.  Tom Onslow-Cole  WSR BMW              + 0.891s
 4.  Gordon Shedden   Honda                + 1.084s
 5.  Lea Wood         Central Vauxhall     + 3.150s
 6.  Rob Collard      WSR BMW              + 3.257s
 7.  Mat Jackson      Motorbase Ford       + 3.345s
 8.  Nick Foster      WSR BMW              + 3.781s
 9.  Frank Wrathall   Dynojet Toyota       + 8.751s
10.  Tony Gilham      Gilham Honda         + 9.281s
11.  Will Bratt       Austin Audi         + 13.670s
12.  Jeff Smith       Eurotech Honda      + 16.307s
13.  Chris James      ES Vauxhall         + 16.443s
14.  Tony Hughes      Speedworks Toyota   + 18.991s
15.  Ollie Jackson    AmD Volkswagen        + 1 lap

Retirements

     Driver           Car                      Laps
     Adam Morgan      Speedworks Toyota          16
     Daniel Welch     Welch Proton               15
     Dave Newsham     ES Vauxhall                10
     Andrew Jordan    Eurotech Honda              9
     Aron Smith       Motorbase Ford              9
     Andy Neate       MG                          5
     Liam Griffin     Motorbase Ford              2

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