Brands Hatch BTCC: Double for Honda as Neal wins race three
Matt Neal made it two wins from three for Honda's new British Touring Car Championship challenger, as he held off MG debutant Jack Goff in the Brands Hatch reverse-grid race
The three-time champion produced a controlling performance to triumph in a race that featured race-one winner Rob Collard being turfed into the gravel at the start, race-two winner Gordon Shedden pitting with a mechanical problem and 2014 champion Colin Turkington spinning early on.
Poleman Rob Austin held his advantage at the start as Neal made what would prove to be a crucial pass on Goff for second off the line, before a safety car was required to deal with the extraction of Collard's stricken WSR BMW 125i M Sport.
At the restart Goff attacked Neal, but was rebuffed, and the duo quickly turned its attentions to pressuring Austin, who gamely fought them off until the final third of the race.
Neal got his Civic Type-R inside the Audi A4 through Clark Curve and made the pass stick into Paddock, before Goff slipped by Austin at Druids.
They then eased clear to engage in a close battle for the lead, which Neal won to go top of the BTCC points, level with Goff but ahead by virtue of the victory.
As they duked it out, Austin slipped back into the clutches of the charging Aron Smith, who was the top Team BMR Volkswagen in qualifying and race one and starred as he rose from the sixth row of the grid.
His progress was aided by a spin for Turkington at McLarens a couple of laps after the restart and Smith needed Austin and Andrew Jordan's MG to clash at Clearways to take the final podium spot.
That incident gave Jordan a puncture, forcing him to pit, while Austin dropped behind Smith and Sam Tordoff's WSR BMW, although he stayed ahead of Tom Ingram, who bagged another fine result for the Speedworks Motorsport team despite its Toyota Avensis managing just three laps of pre-season testing.
It was a tough race for Jason Plato, who started last following the left-front puncture that robbed him of the win in race two.
He was caught up in a multi-car incident at Druid on the opening lap, which also featured Derek Palmer Jr, Kieran Gallagher and Stewart Lines, before ending up 16th after a mid-race issue dropped him back down the order having fought through to the lower points position.
RACE THREE RESULTS - 27 LAPS:
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Matt Neal | Honda | Honda | 25m10.270s |
2 | Jack Goff | MG | MG | 0.196s |
3 | Aron Taylor-Smith | Team BMR | Volkswagen | 1.706s |
4 | Sam Tordoff | WSR | BMW | 4.553s |
5 | Rob Austin | Rob Austin Racing | Audi | 4.719s |
6 | Tom Ingram | Speedworks Motorsport | Toyota | 5.662s |
7 | Adam Morgan | Ciceley Racing | Mercedes | 7.537s |
8 | Andy Priaulx | WSR | BMW | 8.825s |
9 | Dave Newsham | Power Maxed | Chevrolet | 8.909s |
10 | Hunter Abbott | Rob Austin Racing | Audi | 9.157s |
11 | Mike Bushell | AmD | Ford | 11.771s |
12 | Colin Turkington | Team BMR | Volkswagen | 17.558s |
13 | Martin Depper | Eurotech | Honda | 21.188s |
14 | Jeff Smith | Eurotech | Honda | 21.847s |
15 | Simon Belcher | Handy Motorsport | Toyota | 24.415s |
16 | Jason Plato | Team BMR | Volkswagen | 30.122s |
17 | Stewart Lines | Houseman Racing | Toyota | 34.892s |
18 | Derek Palmer Jr. | Infiniti | Infiniti | 38.336s |
19 | Andrew Jordan | MG | MG | 1 Lap |
20 | Kieran Gallagher | Team Hard | Toyota | 1 Lap |
- | Alex Martin | Team Parker | Ford | Retirement |
- | Gordon Shedden | Honda | Honda | Retirement |
- | Aiden Moffat | Aiden Moffat Racing | Mercedes | Retirement |
- | Warren Scott | Team BMR | Volkswagen | Retirement |
- | Josh Cook | Power Maxed | Chevrolet | Retirement |
- | Rob Collard | WSR | BMW | Retirement |
CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
Pos | Driver | Points |
---|---|---|
1 | Matt Neal | 37 |
2 | Jack Goff | 37 |
3 | Aron Taylor-Smith | 36 |
4 | Andy Priaulx | 34 |
5 | Gordon Shedden | 32 |
6 | Colin Turkington | 30 |
7 | Adam Morgan | 27 |
8 | Tom Ingram | 26 |
9 | Sam Tordoff | 23 |
10 | Rob Collard | 21 |
11 | Andrew Jordan | 20 |
12 | Rob Austin | 20 |
13 | Jason Plato | 18 |
14 | Hunter Abbott | 11 |
15 | Dave Newsham | 8 |
16 | Aiden Moffat | 7 |
17 | Mike Bushell | 5 |
18 | Josh Cook | 5 |
19 | Martin Depper | 3 |
20 | Jeff Smith | 2 |
21 | Simon Belcher | 1 |
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