There were thrills and spills a plenty in the British Touring Car Championships at Thruxton this weekend.
While the results may show that Matt Neal won two races and finished second in another with teammate Gordon Sheddon winning one, this does not tell the real story of the weekend.
There were plenty of on track incidents throughout the three races that made it one of the most entertaining rounds of the 2013 season to date.
For the Kent based teams there were mixed results with Tony Gilham’s Team Hard, the most successful of the teams with Tom Onslow-Cole finishing on the podium twice, and just outside the top three in the final race of the weekend.
Jack Goff was on pole in the reverse grid race but unfortunately he was pushed off the track and ended up eating a lot of grass.
The Airwaves Racing boys of Aron Smith and Mat Jackson had their best weekend of the season so far for the Wrotham based team, with a good points haul over the weekend.
There will be more on our local teams and their drivers later on in the week, but Matt Neal was certainly the man to benefit from the weekend.
He won race one, and two and came from a fair way back on the grid and finished second behind his own team mate Gordon Sheddon.
It could have been different however for Andrew Jordan who finished third in race three. In race one Jordan was leading up until his front tyre deflated handing the win two Neal. It was Neal’s 50th win of his BTCC career.
The Jack Sears Trophy battle is now locked at three wins a piece from the opening nine races of the season, with Lea Wood having won two of the three races at the weekend.
Liam Griffin in his Addison-Lee Motorbase Ford Focus S2000 took the win in the final win of the three races, making it another good weekend for the Wrotham based team.
The Championship now has a month break before it gets back on track at Oulton Park on the weekend of the 9th June. With the tough regulations and limitations on test days all teams will be working hard to improve ahead of races 10, 11 and 12 of the season.