Matt Neal was in high spirits after a second British Touring Car Championship race win of the season in the third race at Donington Park.
The three-time series champion had been in contention for the final podium position before Josh Cook and Aron Smith collided while jostling for first place, and with three laps remaining, Neal made a decisive move past Rob Collard to assume the lead of the race.
By resisting the Triple Eight MG of Andrew Jordan over the line, Neal became the first man to win two races in the 2015 season – having also won the third race at Brands Hatch – and in so doing returned to the summit of the championship standings.
And speaking to TouringCars.Net, the Honda driver was delighted to have come out on top in an action-packed final race of the day.
“It was awesome,” he admitted. “The race was so frenetic and anything could have happened – there were so many people who could have won it.
“To get another win and a double Honda podium is fantastic. The Civic was awesome through the quick stuff down through Craner so I was trying to be really committed through there to just try and give myself a little bit of gap, a little bit of margin for when we got to the tight stuff.”
Neal’s position had been the subject of some doubt after the race, however, having tapped Jordan wide in order to pass his rival in the early stages of the 19-lap race.
But the victory was upheld, with Neal receiving a verbal warning for the incident – although a second hearing will take place at Thruxton after Triple Eight lodged an appeal.
Giving his take on the clash, Neal insisted that he had the right to go for the gap that Jordan had left.
“He was pressing on, he was a bit lighter – I obviously had a fair bit of weight on board.
“I did him [Jordan] a couple of laps prior to that and then he half-covered the inside but he still left the gap there so I went for it.
“He obviously saw me coming and tried to close the door but you can’t shut the door when a travelling salesman’s got his foot in it so he turned across me, that’s my take on it, he’ll have his view and I’ll have mine.”
Now two points clear in the championship race, Neal said he was looking forward to the three-week break before Thruxton, where he hoped to once again challenge at the front.
“It’s always been a good hunting ground for us. It’s near to Swindon which is Honda’s manufacturing [base] so it’s quite special, the Civic is great through the fast stuff which is what Thruxton’s all about and with a fast, flowing circuit it’s not so bad carrying weight even though the weight is a lot now.
“I’m just going to enjoy the next three weeks and have a nice slow drive home tonight.”
