Win apiece for Matt and Flash as champions extend lead

Team Halfords driver Matt Neal has extended his lead in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship after another stunning Thruxton weekend for the reigning champions.

Matt and team-mate Gordon Shedden claimed a win each and two one-two finishes to also help Team Halfords hit the front in the teams' championship as the BTCC heads into a six-week break before the next round at Croft.

Qualifying saw the duo elect to work in tandem to take the fight to their rivals - and the plan worked in stunning fashion. Having secured his maiden victory last time out at Oulton Park, it was time for Flash to pick up his first BTCC pole position as he posted a quickest time of 1min 17.833secs to earn his place on the front row of the grid.

"The Integra has gone well all day," he said. "Thruxton is one of those circuits where you just have to hang on round the back section and the car is really well balanced around there and as a result we managed to secure pole."

Despite carrying maximum ballast in his Integra thanks to his position as championship leader, Matt was also able to benefit from the team's tactics as he claimed a place on the second row - putting him ahead of title rival Jason Plato and right in contention for race day.

"I gave Gordon a tow for a few laps and then he took over and we did it in sessions," the champ said. "I don't know if anyone else tried it but it really worked for us. I made a little mistake that prevented me from going higher although I wouldn't have been as quick as Flash who put in a great lap. It's very close and I'm over the moon with the second row of the grid."

If the sun was shining on Team Halfords during qualifying then it was positively blazing when the opening race of the weekend kicked off at the high speed Hampshire circuit.

Showing no signs of nerves on his first pole position start, Gordon simply drove away from the field and was never challenged as he picked up his second win of the season. Matt followed him home in second place after launching a stunning passing move on Tom Chilton mid-way through the race - the #1 Integra driving around the outside of the youngster as the pair battled through the Complex.

With Team Halfords having claimed all three victories last season, Gordon's win meant the Integra remained unbeaten at the quickest circuit on the calendar.

"I made a good start for once and with Colin having a problem I had a bit of a clean run into the first corner," he said. "The car felt fantastic all the way through and I was able to pull away and manage the tyre situation. It was great result and I'd much rather win by six seconds than six tenths of a second as it takes the pressure off a little bit!"

Starting from the first two positions on the grid, race two saw a reverse in the result of race one as Matt led home Gordon for a second one-two finish of the day. With Flash acting as rear gunner in fine style, Matt was able to secure the victory - amazingly his first win at the circuit during his long and successful career.

"Thruxton has always been my bogey circuit but not this year," he said. "The sun is shining and it's also shining on us so far! I wasn't getting hung-up on not having won here but it was nice to get the monkey off my back. Gordon had to work hard like I did in the first race but it was another good result for the team."

With the threat of rain hanging over the final race, the two orange Integras headed into race three looking to try and make it six wins in a row for Team Halfords at the fastest circuit in the UK and, although the victory would elude the duo, Matt picked up another podium finish to extend his championship lead to 33 points going into the summer break.

"If you'd have told me I'd get these results at the start of the weekend I'd have said you were lying," he said. "To get a win and two seconds, along with the bad luck that some of my rivals have suffered, has made it a good weekend for me in terms of the championship.

"We get called the racing heroes but the real heroes are the guys in the garage for giving us such a great car. It's easy to look a hero in a good car and at the moment that is what we have. Both me and Gordon had a cracking run here and we're over the moon with how it went."

For Gordon it was another impressive weekend behind the wheel in his first full season of BTCC competition and he too heads into the summer break in positive mood.

"The car is working well and we've had some good results in the last couple of events," he said. "It's great to have now got two wins going into the summer but I couldn't have got these results without the team. When I go to a circuit, Matt talks me through everything that is required set-up wise and driver wise and the whole team make me feel at home. Without their help, I wouldn't be able to produce the results that I am doing at the moment.

"I'm here to score as many points as possible for Team Halfords and hopefully we can do that for the rest of the season."