Matt Neal: “We needed that after Snetterton”

Matt Neal was delighted with the way the Honda Racing Team were able to bounce back after the nightmare that was Snetterton with two victories at Knockhill.

Gordon Shedden took a commanding victory in race two while Neal pulled off a late-race move on Adam Morgan to take the last win of the day, all the while main rivals Team BMR struggled with their Volkswagen CC around the 1.2 mile Scottish circuit.

“We certainly needed it after Snetterton,” Neal told TouringCarTimes. “But what a way to bounce back. It just shows how you need the luck on your side because Snetterton we were looking forward to we thought we’d be strong, Knockhill we weren’t. BMR have had a similar weekend to what we had at Snetterton and it just shows you how quickly it can turn around.”

Neal looked set to take second in the final race, only able to pull in a tenth or two on leader Morgan on each lap, but an unfortunate piece of debris for the Mercedes driver allowed the Honda driver to close right in with just two laps to go, making his move at the hairpin on the penultimate lap.

“I took a while to get past Aiden,” explained Neal. “That allowed Adam to make a break and then I really got my head down, keeping in contact with the pits just to keep up with what times he’s doing. I thought I’ve got to just keep my head down and then about five or six laps to go I thought it wasn’t happening, but you’ve got to keep going. Then he got the bit of debris and then I saw this opportunity and then I thought I’d have a go then, but then I thought that was him finished, but then he picked up speed again and I thought that was it gone.

“Then he defended the inside to the hairpin on the last but one lap but just left enough as he came back for the apex he left a cars width in there on all the marbles so I just rolled it up on the inside. I was watching the mirror on the last lap. A great way to end the weekend.”

Neal now goes into the final three meetings full of confidence, even heading to Silverstone, historically an awful circuit for Honda, with his head held high.

“I’m looking forward to all the last three,” he said. “Silverstone could be a bit shaky, but I think we’ll be stronger than we’ve ever been there, the other two really looking forward to.”