Photo: PSP Images

Matt Neal delighted with Diamond Double success

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Matt Neal insisted that his victory in the BTCC’s Diamond Double race was a ‘close second’ to his maiden win in the series after emerging on top of the pile in the special double points race at Snetterton.

The Honda driver had endured a tough start to race day with 14th place in race one being followed by 21st in race two, leaving him needing to pick up a strong result in the final race to keep himself firmly in the mix for the championship crown.

Running second early on to Jack Goff, Neal hit the front when Goff made a slight error as rain started to fall and was then able to keep the Eurotech man – as well as Speedworks’ Tom Ingram – at bay through to the finish to pick up victory.

A maximum haul of points sees Neal now sitting third in the championship standings, 16 points down on new leader Ingram with four meetings still to run.

“Pleased isn’t the word,” he said afterwards. “After the first two races I didn’t think it was on for us in the tricky conditions for the Double, but I just wanted to get my head down and see what happened. In the first few laps, Jack went off ahead and Tom was all over me as my car was really loose but when things started to settle down, the car felt good and I felt we could really push.

“When the rain came, Jack got sideways and I got a run and then gapped him, but the rain came again and I was concerned that they’d get through as they had both been strong in those conditions earlier on and we weren’t. They were using me as a marker and I couldn’t afford to make a mistake or let them get too close. Jack got a run a few times and I was glad to see the chequered flag.”

Neal’s victory came on the weekend where he made his 650th start in the series, and the three time champion admitted it was a win that would live long in the memory.

“The first win in 1999 will always be the special one, but that comes a close second,” he said. “We’re only just into the second half of the season but we’ve got some good points in the bag because of it and I’m confident for the races still to come.”