Matt Neal takes controversial race two victory

Matt Neal secured victory in controversial fashion in the second BTCC race of the weekend after contact with Josh Cook on the final lap.

In a race that saw the top two in the standings fail to score, Neal fought his way up into second place in the closing stages of the race behind long-time leader Josh Cook.

Having tried to make a move into Sunny on the penultimate lap only for Cook to cover off the attempt, Neal then tried again on the final lap with a late lunge into the right-hander, tagging the rear of Cook’s car and sliding through into the lead.

Neal therefore crossed the line for a first win since the 2018 ‘Diamond Double’ race at Snetterton, although the manner in which he secured the race lead is set to now be reviewed by officials.

Up to that point, Cook had done well out front on maximum ballast having held the lead from Jake Hill at the start, with the real drama coming behind as Colin Turkington locked up into Clervaux and sailed off into the gravel to bring out the safety car.

Rory Butcher would also go off on the exit of the chicane as two title contenders ran into issues, leaving Ash Sutton well placed in third after a solid start in the Infiniti.

On the restart, Sutton started to put Hill under pressure for second and briefly nudged ahead across the line at one stage only for Hill to keep the place going into turn one. Sutton however then made a late lunge for the lead at the hairpin on lap six and contact with the Honda saw him pick up a puncture that dropped him outside the points.

Cook broke away as a result, with Neal closing onto the rear of Hill before a move at Sunny on lap ten saw him take the place and he then chased down Cook before the last lap drama that emerged.

Behind that, Hill took third place despite the best efforts of Tom Ingram in the closing stages, with the Speedworks driver having steadily picked up places to come through from outside the top ten to take fourth.

Dan Cammish took fifth and suddenly finds himself just 13 points off the championship lead, with Tom Chilton and Tom Oliphant following behind – the latter having managed to make up three spots in the closing stages as the front-wheel drive cars ahead started to struggle.

Bobby Thompson took another solid result in the Audi with eighth ahead of Senna Proctor and Stephen Jelley.

Sutton would end up outside the points in 20th spot behind Butcher, with the pair now set to try and fight from the back alongside Turkington in the reverse grid final race – where Chilton will start on pole.