Having only finished building its new Honda Civics in the days leading up to the opening rounds of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch, Team Halfords was able to celebrate a fairytale start to life with its new S2000 machine as Matt Neal took a stunning win on the car's debut.

The two-time champion had spent hardly any time in the Team Dynamics built and developed machine prior to the weekend, but - as was the case with the all conquering Integra it replaces - the Civic proved to be quick out of the box, with Matt securing a double podium from the weekend. Team-mate Gordon Shedden went into the weekend with no running in the car, and unfortunately for Flash, the teething troubles expected from a new car - allied to some bad luck - meant he was forced out of two of the three races.

Race One:

Having qualified in a solid ninth place for his first race with the new car, Matt made a good start to climb up to sixth place on the opening lap, making the most of contact at the first corner between Fabrizio Giovanardi and Darren Turner. After an early Safety Car period, the double-champion soon moved into fifth past Tom Chilton's Vauxhall and then dived inside debutant Tom Onslow-Cole on lap 15 to go fourth, just before a second Safety Car period. From there, Matt challenged Mat Jackson in the closing stages before taking the flag in fourth place. However, Jackson was then excluded for a flag infringement, giving Matt a debut podium for the new car.

With next to no running in the car prior to the weekend, Flash produced a fine drive to move up from 14th on the grid after power steering failure in qualifying to bring his car home in the points, his Civic being embroiled in battles throughout the race before he took to the flag in a solid ninth place.

Race Two:

Starting from the second row of the grid in race two, Matt looked set to fight for a podium again in race two as he spent the early laps swarming all over the rear of Colin Turkington's BMW. However, he saw his chances of making it a double podium disappear on lap nine when he was hit by Onslow-Cole at Graham Hill bend, an incident that saw him drop down to seventh place. Matt soon climbed up to sixth when Onslow-Cole was then pushed off by Darren Turner and battled for fifth with Adam Jones in the privateer SEAT, eventually taking the place in the closing stages to secure another solid finish for the new car.

For Flash however, the race didn't go to plan despite a good drive in the early stages. Starting from ninth on the grid, he climbed up to seventh place and was in the train of cars following Turkington when he was pushed off by Giovanardi on the run into Surtees. Although he bounced across the track and rejoined the track on the exit of Clearways, the damage was done, and Gordon was forced to park up at the end of the pit straight and retire.

Race Three:

Starting third on the grid for the final race thanks to the reverse grid rules, Matt made a stunning start to dive between front row pair Giovanardi and Jones to lead into Paddock Hill bend for the first time. Matt then pulled out a lead over the squabbling pack behind, before a Safety Car saw his advantage disappear. However on the restart, Matt held off the challenge of both Jones and then Giovanardi in the closing stages to secure a richly deserved win, rewarding the team for the late nights endured over the winter.

Things didn't go to plan for Flash, who had started from the back of the grid due to his retirement in race two. The rapid Scot fought his way through the field to lie within touching distance of joining Matt inside the points, but his challenge came to an unfortunate end when he brought the car into the pits to retire.

Quotes:

Matt Neal: "I'm speechless, I really don't know what to say. This is just fantastic. The Honda Civic has had little development and Team Halfords has just wheeled it out and won. It shows the potential of the car and I'm really, really excited. It's a shot in the arm to get a win and I can't explain how hard the guys have worked to get it ready. We know we have a lot of work to do between now and Rockingham to get the pace in qualifying but we can go and have a few beers tonight. This is for the guys who have worked on the car, 100 per cent. Not only for them but for all our sponsors - we couldn't do it without them and it is great to pay them back like this."

Gordon Shedden: "For the team to get my car ready and here in one piece was amazing in itself and I laughed in practice as it was the most laps it had ever done. I had a few teething problems this weekend but Matt's win is a real boost to the whole team and gives us a bit extra motivation to keep going the extra mile to get an ever better car for Rockingham in three weeks."

Oli Collins - team manager: "This has been an unbelievable weekend. We tried to be realistic and thought that's what we were doing in aiming for the top six and hoping for some reliability. We didn't expect an amazing amount and to have a win is phenomenal. The boys have worked so hard for this, they are amazing and really deserve it. We have been doing twelve hour days since December and have had some real kicks in the teeth along the way but there are a lot of happy people in my camp now. We are under no illusions and know there is still a lot of work to do but the Honda Civic has shown a hell of a lot of potential and we'll try to fight for the championship."