Tom Chilton finished round ten of the 2003 Green Flag MSA British Touring Car Championship at Rockingham in seventh place after another excellent drive in his Civic Type R. The 18-year-old, who started from the second row of the grid after his fourth place finish in the first race of the day, made a mistake on lap one and fell back to fourteenth. However, the talented driver battled through to take seventh place for Honda Racing.

It was a different story for the other two Honda Racing drivers. Matt Neal, who started the race in pole position, had to retire with engine problems on lap two, while his team-mate Alan Morrison suffered a similar fate later in the race.

The two Honda Civic Type Rs of Matt Neal and Alan Morrison had started the race neck and neck and battled for the lead throughout the first lap but just as Neal took the advantage his car suffered engine failure, forcing him to retire from the race.

Luck was not on the side of Alan Morrison either. He dropped back to third after running wide at Deene but held his position and made an excellent pit stop on lap 13. However, soon after he suffered technical problems and the race was over for him on lap 15.

Tom Chilton: “I was just happy to finish the race. It was getting very slippery out there and with the other two having to retire it was very important for me to score some points for Honda Racing.”

Alan Morrison: “Obviously it was very disappointing for me not to finish after such a good result in the first race, but that’s racing. There are ups and downs but I think things are definitely going the right way now for Honda Racing. I’m happy for Tom that he managed another top ten finish and scored some more points for the team.”

Matt Neal: “It was fantastic to win the first race today and myself and Alan both had excellent starts in the second. To begin with it looked as though it was going to be another good result but it wasn’t to be and obviously I’m disappointed that things turned out the way they did. Tom did well again though and it was good to see a Honda Civic Type R finish in the points.”