Neal Takes Lights-To-Flag Victory
Matt Neal took the final win of the day at Brands Hatch after starting from pole position. The Honda driver took a lights to flag victory but was made to work hard for it by the pursuing Andy Jordan and Mat Jackson.
Jordan started alongside Neal and made a decent start to retain his position ahead of Paul O’Neill and Mat Jackson who made contact with Nash off the start line resulting in the latter being forced onto the grass and losing several places. Jordan was staying on Neal’s pace until lap twelve when a puncture ended his hopes of points and he was forced to crawl back to the pits for a tyre change. He would finish the race a lowly twentieth.
With Jordan’s retirement it looked like Neal would be able to coast to the finish but this wasn’t the case as Jackson, freshly promoted to second, piled the pressure on. He had earlier squeezed past Paul O’Neill at Druids, to be third before Jordan’s misfortune. For all of Jackson’s pace though, he was unable to force Neal into a mistake or find sufficient room to make the overtake and had to settle for second.
O’Neill took a comfortable third in his GoMobileUK.com with Tech Speed Chevrolet Cruze, ahead of Gordon Shedden in the second Honda and the works Chevrolet of earlier race winner Jason Plato.
Plato had been in fourth until Shedden found a way through after getting a better run out of Graham Hill Bend which allowed him the inside line into Clearways. Plato acknowledged this by making sure the front of his car made contact with the rear of Shedden’s into Surtees and although this unsettled the Honda, it didn’t allow Plato a run at him into Paddock Hill Bend. Plato was caught by Nash in the closing stages but used all his experience to keep the Vauxhall driver behind and collect the six championship points that come with fifth position and in doing so consolidating his early championship lead.
Rob Collard followed Nash over the line in seventh after the two spent most of the race nose to tail in what was one of the closest battles in the race.
Tom Chilton was eighth ahead of Alex MacDowall and Tony Gilham who managed to score points in all three races in what was his debut weekend in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship.
The championship resumes at Donington Park in a fortnight.
Photo Credit: Pete Mainey (http://www.psmmotorsportimages.co.uk)
Thomas Surgay
