Neal makes it a double for Team Halfords

There were no repeats of the first race controversy ahead of race two, with Gordon Shedden lining up on pole position for round eight of the 2006 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship.

Neither Shedden nor fellow front-row sitter Mike Jordan made a particularly strong start, and it was Shedden’s Team Halfords teammate Matt Neal who led into the first corner. Shedden slotted into second with James Kaye taking up third position.

VX Racing driver Gavin Smith pre-empted the start of the race, and found a way between the two Team RAC MGs as a result. However, one Irishman hit another as Smith made contact with Turkington, which knocked Turkington into the back of Collard. Turkington stuttered back to the pits with a puncture to his left front tyre, but his hopes of a good result were ended.

Collard however, was one the fast movers in the early stages of the race, passing Tom Chilton in the works Astra Sport Hatch, before benefiting from a skirmish between Mike Jordan and James Kaye to move up to fourth position. Another impressive performance was that of Martn Bell, up to 11th position in just four laps in a car hastily repaired after sustaining damage in race one.

Fabrizio Giovanardi set about chasing down race leader Matt Neal – the Italian enjoying his strongest showing to date in the BTCC. The Astra appeared to have the pace to challenge as Giovanardi closed the gap over a number of consecutive laps, but then Neal’s tyres came into their own and he was more comfortable at the front for the remainder of the race.

A little further back, James Thompson could be found clambering all over the back of Collard’s MG. The Team RAC car was strong enough to fend off the SEAT for several laps, even with Thompson tapping the back of the MG on more than one occasion. Indeed, it was with the aid of a gentle tap at the Island hairpin that Thompson ultimately passed Collard on lap 12. There followed a sense of déjà vu for Collard as he defended from the second SEAT of Jason Plato.

Matt Neal did his hopes of retaining the title no harm at all by holding on at the front to take his third win of the season. Fabrizio Giovanardi scored second for VX Racing, while Gordon Shedden made his second visit of the day to the podium by finishing third. James Thompson finished fourth, ahead of Rob Collard, Jason Plato and Tom Chilton. Dave Pinkney, James Kaye and Gavin Smith completed the top ten.