Matt Neal has become the first driver in the modern era to successfully defend the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship title after Team Halfords concluded another dominant season of racing with three victories at Silverstone.
As well as Matt’s drivers’ title - which makes him the first back-to-back champion since Chris Hodgetts in 1986/87 - Team Halfords’ has also defended both the Independents teams’ and outright teams’ titles while Matt has added another Independents trophy to his collection of silverware.
With a 35 point lead going into the weekend over closest rival Jason Plato, Matt was well aware of what he needed to do to secure the crown, with his quest for glory being aided in qualifying when he secured a place on the second row of the grid and Plato was only able to qualify 13th.
Despite only needing to finish ahead of Jason in race one to lift the crown, the racer in Matt came to the fore as he battled to a hard fought fourth place finish which was enough to clinch the title with two races remaining.
Celebrating in fine style, Matt then stormed to victory in a shortened race two following an incident involving Mike Jordan and was able to afford the luxury of missing the final race of the season altogether when a suspension problem meant he was unable to start race three.
“It hasn`t sunk in, it`s unbelievable and I`m over the moon, not for me but for the guys here in the team,” Matt said. “There are a lot of people who have helped us over the year, who have shown faith in us and invested in the programme and it is great to do it for them.
“Jason qualifying down the order did take the pressure off a bit with whatever problems he was having, but the first race wasn`t easy and I wanted to try and finish on the podium. Winning race two was the icing on the cake.
“It may look easy now, but it has been a tough year. Jason and Colin have had fast cars at different circuits and it’s been tough. I`m lucky to have been in a strong and fast car, Team Halfords came good again and Neil Brown produced another stonking engine that kept me in a position to defend my title.”
The other two victories on the day went the way of Gareth Howell, who continued the fine form he displayed last season in taking his maiden BTCC victory at Silverstone with wins in races one and three. In race one he led from start-to-finish after starting from pole position, and after a sixth place finish in race two, he survived two Safety Car periods in the final race of the year to take another win.
“The main thing is that Matt has won the title but for me personally to go out with two victories is fantastic,” Gareth said. “I’m over the moon with the result and am so pleased. I never imagined that I could win two races in one day.”
For ‘Flash’ Gordon Shedden, the highlight of the day came in race two with a second place finish, capping a fine debut season for the Scot who ends the year fourth in the championship standings.
“It’s a great day for Team Halfords and having won the first race with the Honda Integra, we’ve now won all three races of our final meeting with the car,” he said. “It’s great for everyone involved with the team and on a personal note, I’m pleased to have won four races this season - there aren’t many rookie drivers who are able to say that.”
Team Dynamics Press Release
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