Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

Australia

Knockhill BTCC: Neal grabs final win from Morgan

Matt Neal made a late move to take victory in the final BTCC race at Knockhill, denying a hitherto dominant Adam Morgan in the process.

Matt Neal, Honda Yuasa Racing

Matt Neal, Honda Yuasa Racing

Pat Cranham/PSP Images

Matt Neal, Honda Racing Civic Type R
Second place Matt Neal
Adam Morgan , Wix Racing
Andy Priaulx, Team IHG Rewards Club
Jason Plato, Aron Smith and Colin Turkington, Team BMR
Gordon Shedden, Honda Yuasa Racing
Rob Collard, JCT1600 Racing with Gardx

Morgan claimed pole position after two-time series champion John Cleland drew number 10 in the reverse grid draw, and the Mercedes driver seemed to be driving to a simple victory.

However, with just two laps to go, Morgan picked up a large piece of debris on the front of his car, allowing Neal’s Honda Civic Type-R to close in.

Knowing he had a very limited amount of time, Neal made his move on the next lap, diving inside at the hairpin and holding off Morgan for the final 1.2 mile tour of the Scottish track.

The first quarter of the race seemed to be heading for a Mercedes one-two as Aiden Moffat followed Morgan around the track in his own A-Class, but it was only a matter of time before he was reeled in by Neal.

Behind the top three, championship leader Jason Plato was desperately trying to keep the West Surrey Racing BMW of Andy Priaulx at bay. Priaulx finally made his way through on lap 15, forcing Plato wide into the hairpin and setting his sights on Aiden Moffat in the final podium position.

It took the remainder of the race, but Priaulx finally took third on the final lap, albeit through a controversial move at Scotsman corner. The result was later overturned by the officials, promoting Moffat to third and his first BTCC podium.

Plato would finish the race in sixth, eventually losing his top five finish to the on-form Rob Austin in the Audi A4, taking three very strong points finishes on a weekend when his absent teammate Hunter Abbott became a father.

Meanwhile, a race long battle saw Triple Eight MG's Andrew Jordan hold back the challenges of Honda’s Gordon Shedden and Motorbase’s Mat Jackson for seventh through to ninth, while Martin Depper rounded out the top 10 in the Eurotech Racing Honda Civic.

Elsewhere, West Surrey Racing had a race to forget, with both Rob Collard and Sam Tordoff going off track with damage almost within a lap of each other, while Team BMR’s nightmare day ended with Colin Turkington in 15th, Aron Smith in 17th and Warren Scott non-finishing.

James Charman/TouringCarTimes

Pos. Driver Car Time/Gap
Matt Neal Honda 22'36.425
Adam Morgan Mercedes 0.350
Andy Priaulx BMW 8.607
Aiden Moffat Mercedes 11.923
Rob Austin Audi 12.372
Jason Plato Volkswagen 13.620
Andrew Jordan MG 14.530
Gordon Shedden Honda 15.588
Mat Jackson Ford 17.872
10  Martin Depper Honda 19.365
11  Dave Newsham Chevrolet 20.175
12  Jack Goff MG 20.546
13  Josh Cook Chevrolet 20.772
14  Jeff Smith Honda 22.274
15  Colin Turkington Volkswagen 22.864
16  Tom Ingram Toyota 23.082
17  Aron Smith Volkswagen 24.948
18  Mike Bushell Ford 28.439
19  Robb Holland Toyota 33.322
20  James Cole Ford 33.916
21  Alex Martin Ford 35.555
22  Daniel Welch Proton 39.436
23  Stewart Lines Toyota 44.919
Ret Rob Collard BMW  
Ret Sam Tordoff BMW  
Ret Warren Scott Volkswagen  
Ret Derek Palmer Jr. Infiniti  

Be part of Motorsport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Knockhill BTCC: Shedden storms to home win in race two
Next article Priaulx awaiting BMW's Rockingham decision

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

Australia