Welcome to BTCCPages.com!

Search BTCCPages.com

BTCC 2012 Index

Neal edges towards title with race one win at Silverstone

BTCC News | Sun 16th October 2011

Matt Neal has taken a huge step towards his third BTCC title with victory in the opening race at Silverstone.

Tweet

By Matt Lamprell

The Honda Racing driver fended off the persistent challenge of Airwaves Racing’s Mat Jackson until Jackson suffered a puncture with just two laps remaining. That left Neal to claim his seventh victory of the season, ahead of teammate Gordon Shedden.

Meanwhile, Jason Plato’s hopes of retaining the title are all but after he was also the victim of a puncture.

With two races remaining, Neal leads Shedden by 10 points with Plato a further 12 behind.

Matt Neal said, “I was just relieved to see the flag. Mat [Jackson] was giving me such a hard time during that race. I thought I was going to have to let him go eventually, but then I think he got a puncture. I had a rumbling from my left front towards the end, too, so it really was just a relief to make it to the end.”

Neal started the race from pole position and held on to the lead at the start, ahead of Jackson and Shedden. There was drama further down the order as Rob Austin and Ollie Jackson collided just metres after the start. The biggest casualty though, was Tony Gilham in the newly-turbocharged Geoff Steel Racing BMW.

Gilham was left with nowehere to go as Jackson spun back across the track and the BMW was sent spearing off into the barrier on the outside of the track. The impact was side on, but the damage was heavy and prompted the deployment of the safety car.

Another early retirement was the returning James Thompson, with a broken front damper on his Airwaves Racing Ford Focus.

The race resumed on lap five and Neal was immediately under pressure from Jackson at the front. It looked like it was only a matter of time before the Airwaves Racing driver took the lead – the red Focus was all over the back of the Honda, but he couldn’t find an opening wide enough to squeeze through.

While Jackson challenged for the lead, he also had to keep an eye on his mirrors as Gordon Shedden closed in behind him.

Jason Plato had always said that Silverstone would be tough for the normally-aspirated Chevrolets and he was down in sixth when he suffered a puncture on the tenth lap of the race. He was forced to complete almost a whole lap of the Silverstone National circuit before pitting to change the tyre, ending his hopes of a points finish and all but bringing his title chances to a close.

The top three continued to run almost nose-to-tail, with James Nash in fourth. While the main championship battle was the focus for Neal and Shedden, Jackson and James Nash, running in fourth, were more focused on the Independents’ title.

With Jackson dropping down the order after picking up his puncture,Nash was provisionally crowned the 2011 Independents’ champion.

At the chequered flag, Neal took victory ahead of Shedden in a second consecutive 1-2 for Honda Racing. Nash finished third, with Tom Onslow-Cole fourth and Alex MacDowall fifth. Sixth place went to Dave Newsham, ahead of Andrew Jordan and Rob Collard. Andy Neate and Frank Wrathall finished ninth and tenth respectively.

During the race, 11 drivers were shown the black and white flag for exceeding the track limits, while Tom Chilton, Chris James and Jeff Smith also received drive-through penalties for the same offence.

Matt Neal will start race two from pole position and needs to outscore teammate Gordon Shedden by eight points to warp up the title with a race to spare.

Click here for full results.

Post your comments below OR Click here to discuss in our forum