Neal extends championship lead as Collard scores first win

Knockhill played host to a wet and windy eighth meeting of the 2005 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship, and it may just have been a crucial one! After the annual visit to Scotland, the championship pendulum has now swung strongly towards Team Halfords and Matt Neal. While there was a win apiece for Neal and championship rival Yvan Muller, the VX Racing driver failed to finish the final race of the day, while Neal came home second, extending his points advantage.

RACE ONE

The first race of the day at Knockhill took place in extremely wet conditions. After setting the fastest time in Saturday’s qualifying session, VX Racing’s Colin Turkington started from pole position, but it was fellow Vauxhall racer Yvan Muller who came through to score his sixth win of the season.

Turkington failed to make the best of starts an it was BTCC returnee, Gareth Howell, who led through the newly renamed SEAT Curves (Duffus Dip) for the first time, making an ambitious, yet effective move around the outside of Turkington to slot his Team Halfords Integra into the lead of the race.

Ice racing king Yvan Muller made the most of the slippery conditions to take second spot from Turkington before the end of the opening lap. The Frenchman quickly claimed the race lead, passing Howell as the pair started lap two.

Having slotted in behind Muller, Howell could do little to save his race just seconds later, when he was tapped by former fellow Team Atomic Kitten driver Colin Turkington, sending the distinctively liveried Honda spinning off into the gravel.

Howell’s beached car triggered the safety car with Muller leading the race from Matt Neal, Turkington, Dan Eaves and Tom Chilton. The restart four laps later saw the experienced Muller queue the pack up behind him before accelerating away up the Knockhill straight. Muller looked set to ease away at the front, but as has often been the case this year, Neal’s Honda Integra proved strong in the latter stages of the race and he was soon putting his championship rival under pressure.

As if to mirror the leaders, Colin Turkington and Dan Eaves fought over third position. Tom Chilton was fourth, with Jason Plato fifth, while further back, Luke Hines was putting in one of his strongest performances of the year in the SEAT Toledo Cupra. However Hines became involved in a battle with the MG ZS of Rob Collard and Gavin Smith, which somewhat thwarted his progress, although he went on to finish seventh.

Back at the front, Neal continued to close on Muller, and with three laps remaining, kept a tight line at the hairpin, which enabled him to move alongside the Astra Sport Hatch and claim the inside line for Duffus Dip at the end of the straight. Undeterred, the last thing on Muller’s mind was conceding the spot, and he caught the side of Neal’s Integra on the way back into the lead. Neal caught the car before it hit the gravel, and then set about chasing Muller once more. His last chance to capture the win was a final lap move at the hairpin, but he was coming from just too far back and a sideways slide put paid to his hopes of winning.

Muller crossed the line first, just under a second ahead of Neal to take his first ever win at Knockhill, and his sixth win of 2005. Following the race, Muller said, “It’s quite amazing that this is my first win here after so many years. I got a good start and I got past Colin. Matt was quicker at the end of the race, but I managed to hold on. Hopefully the racing will stay cleaner than that in the other races.”

Neal commented, “The car was good for the win. It was awesome. It just eluded us though. I didn’t think I was going in the gravel, but then I slid wide because it was so wet.”

RACE TWO

The continued heavy rain seemed to trouble the Knockhill starting lights ahead of the second race of the day, and the start was slightly delayed as a Saltire flag was found to get the action underway.

Polesitting Yvan Muller got away well, with VX Racing teammate Colin Turkington initially behind him, but only for half a lap, as the youngster ran wide, allowing Matt Neal through to second. It got worse for Turkington, as he quickly found himself passed by a handful of cars and down to sixth position.

As early as the second lap, the field began to pair off, with Muller and Neal at the front, followed by Eaves and Chilton and Plato and Turkington. The first change of position within these groups came a couple of laps later when Tom Chilton went around the outside of Dan Eaves at the hairpin to claim third position in the Arena Motorsports Civic Type-R.

At the front, Muller ran wide at Duffus Dip, but managed to hold on, albeit with Neal right on his tail. Neal’s Honda looked strong however, and the multiple independent champion was ahead just before half-distance in the race. Muller kept with Neal and was given a further boost when the safety car came out with five laps remaining, but Neal held on to claim the win.

The safety car was brought out as a result of Gavin Smith going off at the first corner, but there could have been any number of incidents as the fight for tenth position played out among the midfield runners. As is often the case, Jason Plato was there or thereabouts, but his SEAT teammate came unstuck, spinning from ninth. Eventually it was Mark Proctor who pipped Fiona Leggate to tenth and pole for race three.

Behind the top two, Tom Chilton added to his podium tally for the year, while Colin Turkington finished fourth, with Luke Hines fifth. Gareth Howell finished sixth, ahead of Jasons Hughes and Plato.

RACE THREE

After looking like it may brighten up later in the day, the rain in fact became heavier for round 24, but it was not the weather that would see the third race of the day play a possibly crucial role in deciding the outcome of the championship.

The top ten finishers from race two were reversed to form the grid for race three, which put the Fast-Tec Motorsport Astra Coupe of Mark Proctor on pole, with Rob Collard lining up alongside him on the front row. Championship rivals Yvan Muller and Matt Neal started ninth and tenth respectively.

Ahead of the race, Mark Proctor declared, “we’re going to go for it”, but the Astra was beaten to the first corner by Collard’s MG ZS, and then ran wide going through SEAT Curves. Collard led from the SEAT Toledo of Jason Plato and the Honda Integra of Gareth Howell.

A first lap casualty was Gavin Smith, whose spin resulted in the safety car being deployed. Before the safety car picked up the leaders however, there was time for controversy. Exiting the tight hairpin, Gareth Howell took a tight line a moved to the inside of Jason Plato, but the former champion appeared to turn in on the Integra, sending Howell into a spin and dropping him down through the order.

At the restart, Collard to continued to lead from Plato, with Muller, Turkington, Neal and Chilton behind. It took just a lap for Muller to find a way past old sparring partner Plato – the Toledo running wide at the Scotsman corner. Muller then set the fastest lap of the race as he closed on Collard. Inside the MG, Collard was all too aware that his first BTCC victory could be on the cards, and a couple of sideways slides did little to help his cause.

However, Collard fended off the advances of Muller, who was also watching events unfold behind him, as Matt Neal moved up to third. With just over five laps remaining, there were two decisive moments. First, there was contact between Neal and Muller, and Plato and Neal. Neal looked to be heading into the gravel, but recovered, and Plato lost out as both Tom Chilton and Gareth Howell, who had lapped quickly to make up time since the early stages of the race, were able to pass him.

Muller still looked set for second position, with Neal in third at this stage, but the Frenchman then made a surprise visit to the pits. Although his Triple Eight team sent him back out on to the track, he came in again the next time around, retiring with a puzzling mechanical problem.

With Muller out, Neal was left sitting pretty in second position and set about chasing Collard out front, but there was not quite enough time left before the chequered flag. Collard completed his competent and mature drive to take his long overdue first victory, much to the delight of the crowd and his West Surrey Racing team.

Neal finished second to dramatically extend his championship lead over Muller. With six races and a maximum of 102 points remaining, Neal’s advantage is now 30 points. Tom Chilton, an impressive Gareth Howell, and Jason Plato completed the top five. Dan Eaves was sixth to complete a disappointing day, ahead of Colin Turkington, Jason Hughes, Fiona Legate and Mark Proctor.

There is a three-week gap before the series heads to Silverstone for the penultimate meeting of the season.