MATT Neal will have been the happiest as he left Croft Circuit yesterday, but the smiles were spread around the pits after a day of high octane action.
The Honda Racing Team driver extended his lead at the top of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship with two victories, but there was also a win for Airwaves Racing’s Mat Jackson, WSR’s Rob Collard never finished outside the top three and team-mate Nick Foster bagged a maiden podium finish.
‘Local hero’ Jason Plato had grabbed a superb pole position on Saturday for race one.
And with the Honda team’s turbos turned down marginally in a bid to achieve a parity of sorts with the normally aspirated cars, he held the advantage as red lights went out on the recently rain-soaked track. However, a bump with Collard at the very first bend put paid to his hopes and he fell behind both the BMW driver and Neal.
Neal made the most of his chance, and although Collard threatened, he looked set for a routine win. But no one had banked on Jackson, whose gamble of slick front and treaded rear tyres began to pay off as the track dried out.
By the last lap, he was up to fourth and he soon made his way past Plato and then caught and passed Collard at Sunny In. As the hairpin approached, he was bearing down on Neal and could no doubt feel his exhaust heat as they exited the corner.
Pulling out, Jackson put the hammer down and drew alongside the Civic and as the flag fell it was anyone’s guess as to who had sealed victory.
But romance plays no part where technology is concerned and it was revealed that Neal had hung on by a mere 0.055s as the pair crossed the line.
Neal made it a quick-fire double with a flag to flag win in race two, the man to catch holding off a determined challenge from Collard, with Pirtek Racing’s Andrew Jordan third, but by some considerable distance.
Neither Plato nor Silverline Chevrolet team-mate Alex MacDowall finished the race.
Excitement was guaranteed in race three with the grid reversed, and the huge crowd was not left disappointed.
Foster had led from the off, but was passed by Jackson early on. Collard made up the front trio and they duked it out for the duration. Foster let the more experienced Collard through as the race intensified, to see if he could force Jackson into a mistake, but when that failed to pay off he sportingly let his friend through on the final lap to guarantee an emotional second place.
Jordan finished the race in fourth in his Vauxhall Vectra, followed by 888/Collins driver James Nash. Neal’s teammate Gordon Shedden and took sixth and Neal himself was seventh. MacDowall had to settle for eighth, while Plato, who started from the rear of the grid, finished 11th and outside the points after a frustrating time behind Tony Gilham in the second 888/Collins car.
Neal’s gap at the top is now nine points, with Jackson his closest rival.
“We had a mega weekend,”
said Neal afterwards. “I really didn’t relish the idea of a wet track, but our technical director Barry Plowman made a great call on the rear suspension set up and rear wheel steer, and the Civic performed mint in the tricky conditions.
“Race One saw me turn the tables on Mat Jackson at Brands last year when he pipped me on the line under the same circumstances. It was all down to the tyre choice, which made for a fantastic race. I was completely worn out.
“For Race Two it was just a question of keeping it on the track. Again, the way the team set up the Honda made all the difference and I was really chuffed with the double win.
“The reverse grid for Race Three always makes it difficult, but I was very happy to come home with strong points and an increased lead in the Championship.”
Jackson described the day as ‘awesome’.
“We had a bad qualifying yesterday (Saturday), but the team made a choice this morning for the slicks and that really set the day up,” he said. “From there we had a good start for race two and got a good reverse grid. Awesome.
It’s great to be heading home from Croft second in championship and with some more wins on the board.”
Collard, meanwhile, could also look back on a job well done.
“When we arrived here yesterday we felt good and the car was excellent straight out of the box. We nearly had pole and just got robbed in the end, so we knew we were going to be pretty strong,” he said.
“But I didn’t think we would be this strong in the dry with the weight on.”
Team-mate Foster only had 12 races under his belt coming into this meeting, so to finish second was a dream come true.
“It’s just a great feeling. Sitting at the front there was pretty nerve-wracking, I just wanted to keep it neat and tidy and that’s how it went. It was a great race,” he said.
“Mat pulled away just a little bit, I knew Rob was behind me – I dropped him a couple of times and he came back and then I thought I’d let him go through to see if he could attack Mat and maybe I could have followed through. But he couldn’t do that, unfortunately, and he was kind enough to give me the place back at the end.”
Plato, meanwhile, was left to look back on that first-bend encounter with Collard in race one that effectively neutered his challenge.
“My start wasn’t great, but it was okay, good enough to lead into the first corner,” he said. “But Rob just gave me a bit of a punt really and I was a passenger.
“I couldn’t stay on the track, I was on full lock and as much power as I could give it so I was off the road there.”
Plato said it wasn’t the be all and end all, but it played its part.
“To say it ruined my race is not fair, but we had a chance which was kind of taken away from us really, which is a shame. But that’s Touring Car racing isn’t it,” he said, before adding with a smile: “I won’t be buying Rob a pint tonight.”
The season now takes a summer break before returning at Snetterton on August 7 and Plato is refusing to be too downhearted.
“There are five rounds of the series left,” said the reigning champion.
“I’m disappointed with the outcome today but we’ve got a great car and the team has a lot of potential, especially given the proposed review in the summer break.”
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