Inside BTCC - Issue 5 - Matt Neal: Champion - October 2011

INSIDEBTCC.COM issue 5 : 16 oct 2011

champions special

Plus - JAMES NASH crowned Independents champion!

!

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erston v l i S t a e l BTCC tit d r i h t s m l clai Matt Nea

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2011 - HOW MATT NEAL WON THE 2011 DUNLOP MSA Inside BTCC

S N O I T A L U T A

R G N O C

N O I P M A H C C C 2011 BT L A E N T MAT / R E R U T C A F U MAN R O T C U R CONST S C I M A N Y D / A HOND N O I P M A H C S M A E T Q i H G N I C A R A D N HO T N E D N E INDEP N O I P M CHA H S A N S JAME S M A E T T N E D N E INDEP N O I P M A CH T H G I E TRIPLE Inside BTCC

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WELCOME...

Wow...what a weekend Matt Neal has been crowned the 2011 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Champion and in this special edition of INSIDE BTCC, we look back at how the Honda man became a three time title winner.

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three-time champion, we caught up with the Honda man to get his reaction to becoming the 2011 title winner, while we also took the opportunity to speak to James Nash after the Triple Eight man became Independents’ champion.

We look at how the title was won and lost over the course of ten dramatic meetings, starting at Brands Hatch back in April right through to this weekend’s finale on the Silverstone National circuit.

We’ll be back again soon with a full look back at the Silverstone weekend, featuring a range of features from within the paddock and of course we’ll bring you a full review of the 2011 season – including our top ten drivers.

Having seen Neal become a

Until next time...

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Lanyon/PSP

Inside BTCC

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S T TEN

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IN THIS ISSUE...

HOW NEAL CLINCHED THE TITLE AT SILVERSTONE We look at how the finals weekend unfolded

6-9

NEAL JOINS HISTORIC LIST WITH THIRD TITLE It’s an elite club of triple BTCC champions

10 - 11

HOW THE SEASON UNFOLDED Race-by-race: Neal’s path to the title

13

1 - BRANDS HATCH INDY

14 - 15

2 - DONINGTON PARK

16 - 17

3 - THRUXTON

18 - 19

4 - OULTON PARK

20 - 21

5 - CROFT

22 - 23

6 - SNETTERTON

24 - 25

7 - KNOCKHILL

26 - 27

8 - ROCKINGHAM

28 - 29

9 - BRANDS HATCH

30 - 31

10 - SILVERSTONE

32 - 33

ABOUT INSIDE BTCC...

Inside BTCC is an independent publication that is in no way endorsed by, or affiliated to the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship or its organisers.

Photos are credit PSP IMAGES or JAKOB EBREY unless otherwise stated.

To get in touch, please email: CONTACT@INSIDEBTCC.COM. Written, produced and edited by Matt Salisbury and Matt Lamprell.

Front cover images: Main - Matt Neal is crowned 2011 BTCC champion (Still/PSP); Top right - James Nash (Tozer/PSP).

Back cover: Matt Neal, thumbs up (Jakob Ebrey).

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HOW NEAL CLINCHED THE TITLE AT SILVERSTONE

Still/PSP

THE STORY OF FINALS WEEKEND

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QUALIFYING

QUALIFYING TOP TEN:

Pole position meant a bonus point and the advantage for the first race of the weekend.

It was made all the better by Jason Plato qualifying down in seventh, although teammate Shedden set the third fastest time and would start from the second row.

1 Neal 59.131 (S2000 chassis/ NGTC engine); 2 Jackson +0.035 (S2000/NGTC); 3 Shedden +0.134 (S2000/ NGTC); 4 Nash +0.177 (S2000/NGTC); 5 MacDowall +0.231 (S2000/S2000); 6 Chilton +0.301 (S2000/NGTC); 7 Plato +0.376 (S2000/ S2000); 8 Neate +0.402 (S2000/NGTC); 9 Onslow-Cole +0.402 (S2000/NGTC); 10 Wrathall +0.474 (NGTC/NGTC).

RACE 1 Lights-to-flag victory for Neal but it wasn’t quite as easy as it sounds. He was challenged for the first 23 laps by Mat Jackson and could only relax once the Airwaves Racing Ford picked up a puncture. Even then, there was a scare for Neal, as his own Honda picked up a vibration in the closing stages.

The win put Neal 10 points

Jakob Ebrey

It was the best possible start to the weekend for Matt Neal.

ahead of teammate Gordon Shedden. Plato, a further 12 points back, was now the only other driver in with a chance of claiming the title.

Nash clinches the Independents’ title with third place in the race, inheriting the Indy win after Jackson’s puncture.

Championship contenders: Neal 242, Shedden 232, Plato 220

RACE RESULTS - TOP 10s RACE ONE TOP TEN: 1 Neal 26:36.253 (S2000/ NGTC); 2 Shedden +0.206 (S2000/NGTC); 3 Nash +3.818 (S2000/NGTC); 4 Onslow-Cole +7.078 (S2000/ NGTC); 5 MacDowall +10.282 (S2000/S2000); 6 Newsham +11.335 (S2000/NGTC); 7 Jordan +13.525 (S2000/ NGTC); 8 Collard +2.808 (S2000/S2000); 9 Neate +16.581 (S2000/NGTC); 10 Wrathall +16.601 (NGTC/ NGTC).

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Fastest lap: Mat Jackson 59.810 (lap 6).

Independent winner: James Nash.

+7.710 (S2000/NGTC); 9 MacDowall +7.727 (S2000/ S2000); 10 Welch +8.464 (NGTC/NGTC).

RACE TWO TOP TEN:

Fastest lap: Mat Jackson 59.904 (lap 6).

Independent winner: Tom Onslow-Cole.

1 Shedden 26:44.480 (S2000/NGTC); 2 Neal +0.595 (S2000/NGTC); 3 Onslow-Cole +1.242 (S2000/ NGTC); 4 Newsham +2.346 (S2000/NGTC); 5 Jordan +3.029 (S2000/NGTC); 6 Boardman +3.495 (S2000/ NGTC); 7 Plato +3.963 (S2000/S2000); 8 Chilton

RACE THREE TOP TEN: 1 Chilton 22:16.314 (S2000/ NGTC); 2 Plato +1.481 (S2000/S2000); 3 Boardman +2.489 (S2000/NGTC); 4 MacDowall +2.782 (S2000/

S2000); 5 Jordan +5.600 (S2000/NGTC); 6 Austin +11.517 (NGTC/NGTC); 7 Onslow-Cole +12.585 (S2000/NGTC); 8 Neal +13.023 (S2000/NGTC); 9 Wrathall +13.439 (NGTC/ NGTC); 10 Shedden +13.799 (S2000/NGTC).

Fastest lap: James Thompson - 59.971 (lap 10).

Independent winner: Tom Chilton.

Inside BTCC

THE STORY OF FINALS WEEKEND Neal could have won the title in this race if he had outscored Shedden by eight points.

However, it was the Scot who claimed victory this time.

A third consecutive one-two for Honda Racing ensured that it would be either Neal

or Shedden that won the title – but the outcome would be decided by the final race of the season Jason Plato could only manage seventh, which brought an end to his title hopes.

Championship contenders: Neal 254, Shedden 248, Plato 224

RACE 3 The reverse grid put Alex MacDowall on pole position for the final race of the season, but it was all about the championship contenders.

Matt Neal started eighth with Shedden ninth. It was Neal who held the advantage from the start and although Shedden challenged, he didn’t look like getting past, let alone making enough progress to outscore Neal by six points or more.

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Jakob Ebrey

RACE 2

The only hope left for Shedden was that Neal would fall victim to damage or disaster – but neither occurred.

The pair finished eighth and tenth respectively, with Frank Wrathall between them.

Matt Neal had done enough to be crowned BTCC champion for the third time.

Final championship standings: Neal 257, Shedden 249, Plato 191, Jackson 191, Nash 191.

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Inside BTCC

NEAL JOINS HISTORIC LIST WITH THIRD TITLE Andy Rouse, Frank Gardner, Win Percy, Bill McGovern, Bernard Unett and now Matt Neal.

The Honda driver became only the sixth driver to secure three BTCC titles on what was a relatively straight-forward final weekend of racing, with Neal doing exactly what was required to beat his rivals to the championship crown.

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The much discussed five-way title shootout was, in reality, more of a three-way thing with Neal five points clear of team-mate Gordon Shedden and arch rival Jason Plato going into the final three races but when Neal clinched his third pole position of the year in Saturday’s qualifying session, the first part of his job was done.

When Neal won race one from Shedden, and

the pair then reversed positions in race two, it meant six points was the gap going into the 30th and final race of the year. Eighth place for Neal, with Shedden two spots further back, meant a third crown for the 44-year-old who previously lifted the title in both 2005 and 2006.

“I’d like to say I’d got hardened to it having won the title twice,” he said, “but it’s

something you never get used to. I know I shed a little tear when I was on the slowing down lap.

“If I’m being honest, I feel for Gordon to an extent because it all came down to that final qualifying session on Saturday.

I got ahead of him on the grid and that was what really decided the championship; it was that close. If he’d managed to get ahead

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Still/PSP

of me on the grid, it could easily have been him lifting the championship. I wish it was both of us with our name on the trophy.”

While Honda took a 1-2 in the Drivers’ championship, Plato’s title defence ended with him third in standings; the fact his eight wins was more than any other driver being little consolation at missing out on the crown.

Neal’s third title gave Honda its third piece of silverware this season, with the Dynamics-run team having already wrapped up both the Manufacturers/ Constructors championship and the HiQ Teams Championship in the penultimate meeting of the year at Brands Hatch.

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Two further championship titles were still to be decided on the final weekend of the season, and both went the way of former champions Triple Eight as it wrapped up Independents’ honours.

Although he retained a mathematical chance of winning the overall crown, James Nash went into the weekend aware that the Independents’ title was a more realistic goal and a seventh Independents’ victory in the first race was enough to confirm him as champion after nearest rival Mat Jackson failed to score.

Neither driver would then score in the final two races of the year, which meant that pair ended the season level on points in the overall championship; a

clear indication of how hotly-contested the Independent battle had been over the course of the year.

“I’m really pleased with how my season has gone,” Nash said.

“We’ve finished every race this season which shows how reliable the car was and shows what a good job Triple Eight has done this season. I only finished outside the top ten in five races this season, and that is why we have got to the end of the year as Independents’ champions.

“We didn’t have too much work to do to wrap up the title and we did it in the first race of the weekend, with my aim then being to beat Mat to fourth in the overall standings.

We ended up tied on

points which is a little bit disappointing, but at the same time, people don’t remember who was fourth in the standings but they remember who won the Indy crown.”

Away from the official championship crowns, there was also reason to celebrate for Frank Wrathall, with eleventh in the championship standings giving him the honour of being best-placed rookie ahead of WSR’s Nick Foster.

Wrathall’s Dynojet Racing team was also the best placed of the new teams to the series in the HiQ Teams’ championship, taking tenth in the standings.

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HOW THE SEASON UNFOLDED RACE BY RACE - HOW NEAL WON THE TITLE Inside BTCC 12

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The season got underway in early April at Brands Hatch, and Jason Plato made the perfect start to the defence of his title with a double victory for Chevrolet.

Qualifying on the second row of the grid, Plato quickly moved to the front when race one kicked off and then led to the finish – taking his 61st series win in the process to go top of the all-time winners list.

A lights to flag victory in race two followed, while fifth in race three left Plato as the early points leader.

For Honda pair Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden, it was a more challenging weekend – the latter leaving his team with work to do to ensure he could even compete on race day after a heavy practice crash. With his car repaired, Shedden managed to fight his way to three top six finishes; including a

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strong podium finish in race two.

Neal meanwhile saw his title challenge start in the worst possible fashion when he was forced off into the gravel at Druids on lap one and left to retire after starting from pole.

Seventh in race two saw Neal benefit from the reverse grid draw as he then led race three from start-tofinish.

Elsewhere, Mat Jackson’s first weekend in the new Airwaves Racing Ford saw him show himself to be a championship contender, with his Focus inside the top four in each of the three races; with second in race three being his best result of the weekend. There was also a good start to the campaign for James Nash, who brought his Vectra to the flag in second place in race one and then added two further top six finishes.

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WIN FOR NEAL BUT ATO TAKES EARLY ADVANTAGE

Dzenis/PSP

Championship Standings – After race 3 of 30 1 Jason Plato 38 2 Mat Jackson 30 3 James Nash 26 4 Gordon Shedden 25 5 Matt Neal 23

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Championship Standings – After race 6 of 30 1 James Nash 59 2 Matt Neal 55 3 Mat Jackson 54 5 Jason Plato 43 7 Gordon Shedden 30

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OLE AND WIN FOR NEAL AS PLATO ERS HEAVY CRASH If Brands Hatch was a good weekend for Plato, the opposite was true at Donington as the title race took its first dramatic turn of the season.

The defending champion qualified down in eighth but failed to score in race one when a deflated tyre forced him to make an unscheduled stop in race one. That was nothing compared to race two however, when contact heading down the Craner Curves saw him go off, with his Chevrolet rolling through a gravel trap before coming to rest, Astonishingly, RML repaired his car ahead of race three, where a sixth place finish gave him his only points finish of the weekend.

It was a better weekend for Neal, who put his Honda on pole in a red-flag affected session before taking victory in the first race of the weekend. Although he lost places at the start of race two, Neal secured a solid third and then took seventh in race three to more than double his championship tally over the course of the weekend.

Donington marked the weekend where Jackson tasted victory for the first time to cap a solid comeback from an accident in qualifying which saw his Ford end up in the gravel.

Fifth in race one was followed by tenth in race two – the latter after being forced off track by Tom Chilton - which meant he was then near the front of the field for race three thanks to the reverse grid draw.

Jackson duly made up the places required to take his first win of the year to sit third in the standings after six races.

The points leader however was Nash, despite the fact he had yet to taste victory champagne. His Triple Eight Vectra was on the pace throughout the weekend and the youngster put the car on the podium in all three races – with a second place finish in race two behind Andy Jordan being his best result of the weekend.

Hatfield/PSP

Team-mate Shedden had qualified second on the grid despite sitting out the latter stages of the session with suspension damage and then crossed the line third in race one

– only to lose the position when he was disqualified for an overboost infringement. From the back of the grid for race two, Shedden fought his way through the field to sixth place but then retired from the final race with front end damage to his car.

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Ahead of Thruxton came the news that TOCA was to impose a boost reduction on turbo cars but it was to have little impact on the overall results of the weekend with turbopowered machines to the fore when the action kicked off.

Shedden was the man to beat in qualifying as he took Honda’s third pole of the year and that was converted into victory in race one; the Scot leading the whole way bar one lap when team-mate Neal was allowed through to pick up a bonus point. Second place followed in race two despite an air jack working loose on his car and affecting the handling while sixth in race three gave Shedden 35 points from the weekend and moved him up two places in the title race.

After his second place finish in race one, Neal took honours in race two for his third victory of the season and then clinched fifth place in the final race of the weekend. With nine races run, Neal therefore found himself on top of the standings ahead of Jackson’s Ford. The

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Airwaves man clinched sixth and fifth in the first two races of the weekend before wrapping up his weekend with second place in race three.

WIN TRI

That final race went the way of Plato’s Chevrolet, with the defending champion fighting hard to keep the turbo cars behind as he led from start-to-finish. It capped a good way to end a difficult weekend for Plato, who had earlier crashed out of the first race of the weekend – making vocal his views on the pace of the turbo cars afterwards. Eighth in race two had set up his race-winning performance as the champion benefitted from the reverse grid draw for win number three of the season.

The remaining title contender Nash found his weekend hampered early on by the success ballast in place for leading the standings. Eighth in race one was followed by a brace of top six finishes although he left Thruxton having slipped back to third in the title race.

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N APIECE FOR TOP IO AS NEAL TAKES POINTS LEAD

Jakob Ebrey

Championship Standings – After race 9 of 30 1 Matt Neal 90 2 Mat Jackson 78 3 James Nash 75 5 Gordon Shedden 65 6 Jason Plato 63

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Championship Standings – After race 12 of 30 1 Matt Neal 103 2 Gordon Shedden 101 3 Mat Jackson 96 4 James Nash 95 5 Jason Plato 91

The fourth round of the season at Oulton Park would be another weekend full of drama, but one where the fight for the title closed right up – with the top five heading away from the North West covered by just twelve points.

Ahead of the weekend, there was another boost reduction for the turbo-powered runners and a minimum weight reduction for the normally aspirated cars.

Qualifying saw Shedden’s Honda quickest from team-mate Neal, with an ominous gap to the rest of the field behind. A damp but drying track for race one led to a gamble on tyre choice, and Shedden’s decision to go with a mix of slicks on the front and wets on the rear paid dividends as he stormed to his first win of the season. A repeat win looked likely in race two as the Scot led from the front despite maximum ballast but, after a late Safety Car period bunched up the field, his hopes of victory ended at the final corner on the final lap.

There, team-mate Neal made a

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move for the lead and the resultant contact saw Neal retire and dropped Shedden back to sixth. A solid second place in race three allowed Shedden to end the weekend second in the standings, but it was very much a case of what might have been.

Neal retained his championship lead despite managing just 13 points from the weekend. His decision to go on wet tyres all round for race one worked against him as he slipped back to eighth place before the last lap drama of race two handed him a first no-score since the season opener. A fine drive in race three from the back of the field to fourth meant Neal left the weekend two points clear of Shedden in the standings.

After his victory in the final race at Thruxton, defending champion Plato started his weekend with second in race one and then inherited a victory in race two after the Hondas collided. What was clear however was that Plato wasn’t impressed with the pace of the

turbo cars afterwards. Contact with Rob Collard hit his hopes of further points in race three as Plato trailed in eleventh, but still closed to within twelve points of the championship lead.

The man closest to the Honda pair at the front however would be Jackson, who led every lap of the final race of the weekend in his Airwaves Focus to take his second win of the season. An engine issue had earlier forced Jackson to retire from the first race but he battled up to ninth in race two, which in turn saw him benefit from the reverse grid.

Nash had taken fourth place in the first race of the weekend taking a surprise second in race two after the late Honda dramas, which left him just a point behind Neal going into the final race of the weekend.

However, the Triple Eight man failed to score for the first time in 2011 when contact on the opening lap tipped him into a spin heading up Clay Hill. With a damaged car, he could only finish 13th.

NE CL

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PLATO WINS AS EAL AND SHEDDEN LASH ON LAST LAP www.insidebtcc.com

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T F O R C Further changes to the turbo boost levels came ahead of Croft, but it didn’t prevent Neal from extending his lead in the points as the series hit the half-way point in the North East.

man when it came to the reverse grid draw for race three. Leading every lap, Jackson took his third win of the season to end the first half of the year nine points away from the championship lead.

Qualifying second on the grid, Neal took the lead when Plato suffered a spin on the opening lap of the race and then led all the way to the finish on what was a wet but drying track.

Neal almost lost the victory right at the end however as a charging Jackson fought up from twelfth after the first lap to finish just 0.055s behind the Honda having seen his tyre gamble work in the final stages of the race. Neal repeated his victory in race two but the reverse grid third race saw him down in seventh – meaning a lead of just nine points at half-way.

Having been just two points behind going into the weekend, Shedden saw the gap to Neal increase after a race day where he took three top six finishes but failed to make it onto the podium. The other two contenders would also be in the wars, with Nash managing a best finish of only fifth and Plato failing to score twice.

Despite his spin in race one, the defending champion started the weekend with a fourth place finish but CV joint failure then put his Chevrolet out of race two.

Jackson’s race one podium was followed by fifth in race two; a result that again benefitted the Airwaves

NEAL LE

Despite his best efforts, Plato could only climb to eleventh in the final race and finished outside the points, putting him 40 points away from Neal in the standings.

Championship Standings – After race 15 of 30 1 Matt Neal 103 2 Gordon Shedden 101 3 Mat Jackson 96 4 James Nash 95 5 Jason Plato 91

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Dzenis/PSP

Jakob Ebrey

EXTENDS POINTS EAD WITH DOUBLE VICTORY

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N O T R SINGL E T T E N S 6SCORE

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LE-FIGURE POINTS E SEES NEAL LOSE POINTS LEAD Another boost reduction came ahead of Snetterton when the season resumed following the summer break and it was the normally-aspirated Chevrolet of Plato which took pole ahead of the first race meeting on the new 300 circuit. Insisting that being at the front was his best chance of victory, Plato duly won the opening race for his fifth win of the year but only after a clash at turn one with Neal which saw the Honda man spin off.

Plato followed that with a ballastladen third in race two and repeated the feat in race three to half the deficit to the championship lead from 40 points down to 20. There was however a new name at the top of the standings ahead of Plato, with Jackson hitting the front in his Focus. After a pair of sixth place finishes in races one and two, the Airwaves man once again made the most of the reverse grid draw to take his fourth win of the year; and his third successive race three victory.

Jackson’s margin over the chasing pack was eight points, with Shedden

moving up to second. After a podium finish with third in race one, Shedden took victory in race two when a strong start saw him quickly get to the head of the field where he would stay throughout. Seventh place in race three came after the Scot used a straw bale on the side of the circuit to remove the front wing of his car – which had been dislodged and looked like it would lead to him being called into the pits.

For previous leader Neal, the weekend would prove to be a disaster, with his no score after the race one spin being followed by another race without points when he trailed in 17th in race two after picking up a puncture. Although he made amends with an impressive run to fourth in race three, just eight points were scored over the course of the weekend.

Nash meanwhile produced another steady and consistent performance, with sixth podium finish of the season amongst a hat-trick of top six finishes that kept him in contention despite the fact he was still without a victory.

Pics: Jakob Ebrey

Championship Standings – After race 18 of 30 1 Mat Jackson 158 2 Gordon Shedden 150 3 Matt Neal 148 4 Jason Plato 138 5 James Nash 127

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If Snetterton was the highlight for Jackson, then Knockhill would prove to be the exact opposite as the wheels started to come off his championship challenge. Solid points looked possible in the first race before contact in the closing laps of the race from Rob Collard’s BMW saw the Ford man pick up a puncture that led to him failing to score. On the backfoot for race two, Jackson posted the fastest lap but was then forced to retire after going off track, and retired again from race three after running into the rear of Tom Chilton. Just one point from the weekend saw his points lead disappear.

It was therefore Shedden who moved to the head of the field on home soil. From fifth on the grid, he muscled his way up to third on the opening lap of race one and held the place to the finish despite the close attention of Frank Wrathall’s Toyota before taking a popular win in front of the Scottish fans in race three after fighting his way ahead of both Chilton and team-mate Neal. Fifth in the final race of the weekend left him a point clear in the title race.

For Neal, it was a much better weekend than at Snetterton as he moved back up into second in the standings thanks to a hat-trick of top four finishes. The first two races ended with Neal on the second step of the podium while fourth in race three put his championship challenge firmly back on track.

CHAR

After his strong run at Snetterton, it was Plato’s turn to be back in the wars as the normally-aspirated cars struggled against the turbo machines. A pair of seventh place finishes weren’t ideal for the Chevrolet man but did at least put him at the front of the grid for race three. A controversial clash with Tom Boardman however saw Plato’s race end in the barriers and saw him once again lose ground in the title race.

Nash also suffered somewhat in Scotland as he failed to qualify inside the top ten and was left with work to do on race day. Sixth was his best result from the opening two races but he was unable to add to his tally in race three as he came home 15th; having been hit behind the Safety Car on a chaotic restart in the early stages.

Championship Standings – After race 21 of 30 1 Gordon Shedden 182 2 Matt Neal 181 3 Mat Jackson 159 4 Jason Plato 147 5 James Nash 135

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HONDAS TAKE RGE AFTER PLATO CRASHES OUT

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Ahead of Rockingham came a further change to the technical regulations, with the full-spec NGTC cars given a boost cut and all turbo cars handed an extra 20 kilos of weight.

Plato secured pole position after a controversial session that saw him clash both on and off track with arch-rival Neal after contact between the pair in a final dash to post a quick time after a red flag. Plato then took his sixth win of the race in race one but was handicapped by the extra ballast in race two as he slipped back to fourth. Although off the podium again in race three, fifth meant Plato was now with 24 points of the championship lead.

Jackson again failed to make it into the top ten with a brace of retirements and a 13th place finish losing him further ground in the title race but for James Nash there was a first success in the series with victory in the final race of the weekend.

With two additional top ten finishes under his belt from the weekend, the Triple Eight man closed to within a point of Jackson to keep his faint hopes of the crown alive.

Still/PSP

Leaving Knockhill, a point had split the Honda pair at the top of the championship but after Rockingham, Neal and Shedden were dead level in the championship despite mixed results for the pair. Neal brought

his car home inside the top six in all three races with his best result coming in race two, where he took the flag in third. That same race had seen Shedden take his fifth win of the season to go with an earlier sixth, but contact with Nick Foster’s BMW damaged his Civic and left him outside the points in 21st in race three.

Championship Standings – After race 24 of 30 1 Matt Neal 204 2 Gordon Shedden 204 3 Jason Plato 180 4 Mat Jackson 159 5 James Nash 158

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EAL AND SHEDDEN TIED AT THE TOP

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P G H TOUG C T A H S D N A HONDA R -B

The penultimate weekend of the season saw the title race take one further twist as the series headed to the Brands Hatch GP circuit, setting up an enthralling finale with a five-way fight for the title.

Plato secured another pole at the wheel of his Chevrolet and then led from the front to take victory in the opening two races of the weekend to bring himself firmly into contention, with sixth in the reverse grid final race ensuring he closed to within five points of the series lead; albeit heading to a circuit where he expected to struggle against the turbo cars.

The leader leaving Brands Hatch was Neal, although only after a difficult start to the weekend when a puncture meant he failed to score. That meant race two became something of a damage limitation exercise with seventh being the end result, allowing him to benefit from the reverse grid draw to

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secure sixth win of the season in race three.

It was his first win since the resumption of racing after the summer break.

Shedden also failed to score in race one after a puncture, with eighth and second place finishes in the remaining two races – the latter including a bonus point for leading a lap – meaning he would go into the final level on points with Plato and five down on Neal.

Both Jackson and Nash kept themselves in with a mathematical chance of the crown, with Jackson finally returning to the kind of form he had shown earlier in the year as his bad luck came to an end. A pair of second place finishes in races one and two was followed by fifth in race three, while Nash was again inside the top six in all three races – with his eighth podium of the season coming in the final race of the weekend.

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Championship Standings – After race 27 of 30 1 Matt Neal 225 2 Jason Plato 220 3 Gordon Shedden 220 4 Mat Jackson 189 5 James Nash 181

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Pics: Dzenis/PSP

GH WEEKEND FOR AS ALLOWS PLATO TO CLOSE

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E N O T S

R E ILV

S 10

Coming into the weekend, there were five drivers still in with a chance of winning the title – a record for the final meeting of a BTCC season.

Neal claimed the early advantage with pole position in qualifying – handing him a valuable bonus point.

The first race went Neal’s way, too.

He claimed victory ahead of teammate Shedden. It was now down to

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NEAL

three – Plato, Neal and Shedden.

Plato’s faint hopes were ended in race two, when the Hondas claimed another one-two – this time with Shedden in front.

It was down to a final race decider, with Neal starting eighth and Shedden ninth. It was Shedden who had the most to do, but he could not find a way past Neal.

That was it – Neal had done enough!

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Lanyon/PSP

Still/PSP

L CLINCHES TITLE AT SILVERSTONE

1 2 3 4 5

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Final Championship Standings Matt Neal Gordon Shedden Jason Plato Mat Jackson James Nash

257 249 236 191 191

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Jakob Ebrey

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