Matt Neal took his fifth win of the season in round 17 of the Green Flag MSA British Touring Car Championship to equal the number of wins notched up by current championship leader Yvan Muller. Neal made an excellent start and flew off the line ahead of pole sitter James Thompson to lead the race at the first corner.

It was a frantic first lap with all the cars jockeying for position. Alan Morrison had also made an excellent start and moved up to third but an encounter with Thompson's exhaust caused the engine to stall and dropped him back to sixth position.

Tom Chilton in the third Honda Civic Type R started the race on the second row of the grid but the 18-year-old got caught up in the melee at the start and had dropped back to eighth position by the end of lap one.

Matt Neal held on to the race lead right up to the pit stop window despite intense pressure from Thompson. The Vauxhall Astra driver pitted first and managed to hold the advantage he gained in the pits when Neal made his stop one lap later. Neal suffered a minor set back on his stop when a nut came loose from the gun, causing him to loose a valuable two seconds and rejoin the race in second place.

The battle continued between the two drivers throughout the second half of the race with Matt Neal determined to close the gap and reclaim his lead. By lap 17 he had managed to claw back over one and a half seconds and was hot on the heels of his rival. It wasn't until lap 24 that Neal spotted his opportunity. After drawing neck and neck with Thompson and a clash of paintwork between two cars he was able to muscle his way back in front.

It also went down to the wire for Alan Morrison. He had been holding his position in sixth for most of the race in the heaviest of the three Honda Civic Type Rs but right on the line he passed Paul O'Neill to finish the race in fifth.

It was another battling performance for Tom Chilton. The young driver suffered tyre problems during the first half of the race but made up ground after the pit stops to cross the line in seventh place ahead of Carl Breeze.

Matt Neal: "I'm delighted to get my fifth win for Honda Racing. That was a very close race. It was incredibly difficult to get back in front of James after I lost my lead on the pit stop. I had a few tyre problems during the first part of the race but after the stop it felt like a different car. It's going to be a very tough second race as well. The Vauxhalls seem to carry the extra weight really well but I'll be starting the race on pole so I'm going to go out there and go for the double."

Alan Morrison: "I thought I did as well as I could even though I was unlucky at the start. Carrying the extra weight was difficult and as the race went on the tyres were starting to wear. Maybe if I'd managed to hang on to third at the start I could have defended my position but it would have been difficult. I'll be starting the second race on the third row again but I'll be lighter this time so hopefully I'll be able to improve on my position."

Tom Chilton: "I had a few problems with my first set of tyres. I just couldn't seem to build up any pace no matter what I did and I really struggled for the first half of the race. With the new set it felt like a different car. I had an excellent pit stop and I just went out there and did the best I could to move back up the order."