Neal takes race 2 and extends lead

Championship leader Neal, starting from fourth on the grid, passed team-mate and race one winner Gordon Shedden on the outside of the first corner to claim a lead which he would never lose despite race-long pressure from Vauxhall's Fabrizio Giovanardi.

"I had to push really hard to keep the gap over Fabrizio," said Neal. "Then about four laps from the end he seemed to ease off, which I was pleased to see."

Gordon Shedden made it two Team Dynamics Honda Integra-Rs on the podium with a relatively uneventful run to third place. Despite carrying maximum ballast after winning race one, the Scot was never seriously challenged by the fourth place battle, a scrap which eventually saw SEAT's James Thompson barge his way past the MG of Rob Collard at the Island Hairpin in the closing stages.

Thompson's teammate, Jason Plato, came close to taking fifth of Collard in the final laps, but proved unable to improve of sixth place after battling his way through 14th on the grid.

Tom Chilton was the second Vauxhall home in seventh place ahead of the Motorbase Performance-run Honda Integra-R of David Pinkney, with James Kaye and the drive-through penalty delayed Gavin Smith completing the top ten. Kaye, who had finished third in race one, earlier lost time after he was hit by Mike Jordan's Eurotech Integra at the chicane.

Chilton will start the third and final race of today (Sunday) from pole position, and will be joined on the front row by Plato.

CLASSIFIED:

Pos  Driver            Make                  Time
 1.  Matt Neal         Honda Integra         22:36.444
 2.  F. Giovanardi     Vauxhall Astra Sport  +   1.311
 3.  Gordon Shedden    Honda Integra         +   5.732
 4.  James Thompson    SEAT Leon             +   6.394
 5.  Robert Collard    MG ZS                 +   9.431
 6.  Jason Plato       SEAT Leon             +  10.635
 7.  Tom Chilton       Vauxhall Astra Sport  +  13.676
 8.  David Pinkney     Honda Integra         +  18.313
 9.  James Kaye        Honda Civic Type R    +  22.723
10.  Gavin Smith       Vauxhall Astra Sport  +  22.911
11.  Mark Proctor      Honda Civic Type R    +  26.862
12.  Mike Jordan       Honda Integra         +  27.139
13.  Martyn Bell       BMW 320i E46          +  53.616
14.  Fiona Leggate     Vauxhall Astra Coupe  +  55.481
15.  Adam Jones        Lexus IS200           +  58.283
16.  Mark Smith        Alfa Romeo 156        +1:18.284
17.  Colin Turkington  MG ZS                 +   1 lap 

NOT CLASSIFIED:

     Driver            Make                 Laps
     Jason Hughes      MG ZS                  0

Fastest lap: Colin Turkington, 1:28.403 on lap 11