The major talking point of the weekend at Oulton Park in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship was undoubtedly the collision between the two Hondas of Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden during the end of race two.

With both drivers looking odds on for a 1-2 for the team, Matt Neal looked down the inside heading into Lodge corner making contact with the Scotsman and putting them both out of contention for the win.

“I am annoyed with myself for letting it happen,” said Neal. “I am sorry for Flash that I crashed into him. I was looking down the inside and it was wetter on the track than I thought. I locked up the brakes and went into him. I am sorry for him and for the team because we would have had a one-two finish.”

Matt Neal, who currently leads the championship, failed to finish the race with Sheddon scrambling a 6th place finish after rejoining the circuit.

“Every cloud has a silver lining,” commented Matt. “It was hard to find a positive after race two but when the car was free of success ballast it was really hooked up in race three. We have been working so hard on the chassis and the engine and everything trying to make it faster and it showed it’s been worth it today. I hold my hands up and even though I did my best to drop the ball in race two we are still in the in the fight, which is great as we are getting to the halfway stage of the season.”

Despite the incident, Gordon was able to take the positives from the weekend which saw him emerge with three points scoring finishes including a win and a second place to put him just 2 points behind his team-mate in the championship.

“After winning race one we were determined to get the most out of race two that we could. It was unfortunate that we made contact but these things happen in racing,” said Gordon. “The best way to respond was to get back on to the podium in the third race and that was what we did.”

“The fact we were able to run at the front in both races proves that we have been working on all the right areas when it comes to traction and grip.”

James Mappin is the editor-in-chief covering the British Touring Car Championship. You can contact him at james@btcccrazy.co.uk, on twitter @BTCCCrazy or on his personal twitter account @jamesmappin.