Honda Racing enjoyed another podium finish in the Green Flag MSA British Touring Car Championship at Thruxton this afternoon. Alan Morrison took a hard-fought second but Matt Neal’s race was ruined by a puncture that cost him the race lead.

Morrison made it two podiums in two races for the Honda Racing team when he took his Honda Civic Type R to a fine second place in the sixth round. The Ulsterman had been fighting for the lead but was forced to ease off in the closing stages after Neal suffered tyre problems.

Neal had taken the lead in the early stages and was showing the rest of the pack the way home when his front left tyre suddenly deflated at more than 100mph. The tyre blew just as Neal lined up to take the fast right turn at Goodwood, forcing him on to the grass. He returned to the pits to have the tyre changed but was still outside his pit stop window and so had to pit again later in the race - losing even more time. He fought hard to recover position and ended the race 11th.

Tom Chilton also suffered more than his fair share of tyre trouble in the race. A wheel nut came loose after a difficult pit stop and Chilton was very close to losing the wheel in the final laps. The youngster from Surrey nursed the car home in tenth, a disappointing finish considering he had been battling for fourth place just a few laps earlier.

Alan Morrison: “I watched the lights really carefully this time and got a really good and legal start. I was pushing Muller hard at the front when the boys came on over the radio and told me that Matt’s tyre had failed. We decided to ease it off a little to preserve the tyres. It was better to finish second and get some points rather than not finishing at all.”

Tom Chilton: “The car was on form, I was on form and it was all going so well until the pit stop. When I was up on the jacks the clutch was dragging a little, so as I blipped the throttle to keep the engine alive the hubs were actually spinning. That made it really hard for the guys to get the wheel nuts on and we reckon one got damaged. I was closing in on the lead pack and catching fourth place really fast. But races can be won or lost in the pits - and this time it was lost!”

Matt Neal: “It seems I’m a victim of the mysterious Thruxton tyre effect today! I got a whiff of burning rubber just a few moments before the tyre deflated completely as I tried to take Goodwood. We had some really good pit stops this time - it’s just shame that we had to have two of them! At the start of the race I had a battle with Yvan Muller and then settled down. The car felt really sweet and I was running almost the same set-up as Alan and Tom so there’s no obvious reason for the tyre failure.”