Neal wins lively third race at Oulton

Date published : 06 Jun 2010 - 16:59:48

Matt Neal moved back to the top of the British Touring Car Championship by winning the final race of the day at Oulton Park.The Honda driver started eighth on the grid, but a combination of some well-judged passing moves and the misfortune of some of his rivals paved his way to the front.Neal's win, his third of the year, gives him an eight-point lead over Jason Plato, who had led the standings after race two.Polesitter Alex MacDowall led the opening three laps, but retired when his Chevrolet slowed to a halt at Knickerbrook.That handed the advantage to Tom Boardman, but the Special Tuning UK SEAT driver was overtaken by Tom Chilton's Arena Ford at Old Hall on lap nine.Chilton's lead lasted just one more corner as he held a massive tankslapper at Cascades, but lost four places as a result.That turned the lead battle into a fight between Boardman and Neal, and the Honda man got ahead at Lodge on lap 14 as he dived inside the black machine.Boardman retired half a lap later with a broken right-front wheel, possibly as a result of contact with Neal during the passing move.Neal was followed through the field by Steven Kane's Motorbase BMW, which finished half a second behind him, and by James Nash, who took his first podium finish of the year in his Triple 8 Vauxhall.Chilton held on to his fourth place ahead of his team-mate Tom Onslow-Cole and Plato's Chevrolet.Mat Jackson was seventh for Motorbase and Paul O'Neill, who did not make the start of either of the first two races, looked on course for eighth after a good fight up from the back of the field.The Tech-Speed Honda driver ran wide at Cascades on the final lap though and dropped to 10th as the WSR BMWs of Rob Collard and Andy Neate flew by.Pos Driver Car Time/Gap 1. Matt Neal Honda 29m17.935s 2. Steven Kane BMW +0.282 3. James Nash Vauxhall +1.321 4. Tom Chilton Ford +2.109 5. Tom Onslow-Cole Ford +2.493 6. Jason Plato Chevrolet +3.919 7. Mat Jackson BMW +4.376 8. Rob Collard BMW +5.248 9. Andy Neate BMW +6.18510. Paul O'Neill Honda +8.14611. Gordon Shedden Honda +15.45212. David Pinkney Vauxhall +21.55413. Lea Wood Honda +22.09714. Matthew Hamilton Honda +31.74015. Martin Johnson Vauxhall +39.01316. Arthur Forster BMW +1 lapNot classified Shaun Hollamby Volkswagen 16 laps Tom Boardman SEAT 14 laps Andrew Jordan Vauxhall 10 laps Alex MacDowall Chevrolet 3 laps Martin Depper BMW 0 laps