Matt Neal has taken victory in a treacherous third and final Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship race of the day at Croft.
Despite a couple of mistakes on the closing lap due to patches of standing water, Neal was able to hold on to the win from second placed Colin Turkington – the Irishman closing the weekend with another fantastic result for eBay Motors. Pirtek Racing’s Andrew Jordan improved his previous race results to hold on to third.
Adam Morgan started the race from the reverse grid draw, however a parallel shunt to that he suffered in yesterday’s first free practice session, his Cicely Racing Toyota went straight on at Clervaux and was unable to re-join.
Gordon Shedden recovered from a rain-induced slide coming into Sunny to finish in fourth position, ahead of Dave Newsham – who had a good race having been promoted into the reverse grid top ten after Jeff Smith’s race two penalties.
Having started from the back of the field after their tyre misjudgement in race two, the KX Momentum pair Jason Plato and Sam Tordoff ended the third race in sixth and seventh respectively – with Tordoff only two tenths of a second behind his more experienced team mate.
Lea Wood took his sixth Jack Sears Trophy win a lap ahead of fellow class competitors albeit with damage to his Wheel Heaven/Houseman Racing Vectra.
James Kaye had an off earlier on in the session leaving him a lap down, however was left stranded in the grass on the final lap. Jack Goff, Jake Hill, Dan Welch, David Nye, and Ollie Jackson – who was back on track after his engine change – all retired during the race having acquired damage from various incidents. Frank Wrathall’s Dynojet Toyota was also abandoned on the side lines during the opening laps.
Matt Neal leads the championship standings to Andrew Jordan by nineteen points, with Jason Plato sitting in third, drawing with Gordon Shedden in fourth. A good points scoring weekend for Colin Turkington sees him take over Sam Tordoff for sixth.
The Independent standings are topped by Andrew Jordan, holding a thirty point lead over Turkington.
There is now a six week break before the second half of the season gets underway at Snetterton.
Race Classification – Points finishers:
1. Matt Neal (Honda Yuasa Racing)
2. Colin Turkington (eBay Motors)
3. Andrew Jordan (Pirtek Racing)
4. Gordon Shedden (Honda Yuasa Racing)
5. Dave Newsham (Speedworks Motorsport)
6. Jason Plato (MG KX Momentum Racing)
7. Sam Tordoff (MG KX Momentum Racing)
8. Nick Foster (eBay Motors)
9. Aron Smith (Airwaves Racing)
10. Jeff Smith (Pirtek Racing)
11. Rob Austin (Rob Austin Racing)
12. Tom Onslow-Cole (PPCBG.com/Kraftwerk Racing)
13. Mat Jackson (Airwaves Racing)
14. Rob Collard (eBay Motors)
15. James Cole (RCIB Insurance Racing)
Fastest lap – Sam Tordoff – Lap 12 – 1:33:130 By Nikki Thompson
UPDATE
Thirteenth place finisher Mat Jackson has been handed three penalty points on his race licence alongside a £500 fine after contact with Dan Welch’s Proton Persona in the early stages of the race. Both Welch and team mate Hill who was also involved had to retire from the race with damage.
