BTCC Championship Ends With a Thriller as Neal Becomes Triple Champion

Matt Neal has won the British Touring Car Championship for the third time, after a thrilling climax at Silverstone this weekend.

He started in the best way he could on Saturday by securing pole position directly ahead of title rivals Mat Jackson, Gordon Shedden and James Nash. Further back in 7th was reigning champion Jason Plato, who also went into the weekend with a great chance at winning the drivers' crown. It was the first time in BTCC history that there would be five drivers capable of leaving Silverstone as champion.

This was despite Plato pulling in a favour from friend Paul O'Neil, who, driving Plato's car from last year, drove ahead of Plato in qualifying to give him an aerodynamic tow down the long straights of the Silverstone National circuit.

The prospect of having contenders for the crown occupying the front two rows of the grid, with notorious hard-charger Plato on row four drew a huge crowd for Sunday's races.

The first race began with a start line collision in the middle of the field, resulting in a safety car. Once Rob Austin's Audi and Tony Gilham's BMW were cleared out of the way, the race restarted, and it quickly became a three-way battle for the lead between the two Honda Civics of Neal and Shedden, sandwiching second-place man Jackson in the 2010 spec Ford Focus.

Jason Plato's Chevrolet suffered a puncture around half distance but would remain in the title fight for the next race. Mat Jackson suffered a similar fate just three laps from the end which unfortunately ended his hopes of both the overall title and the Independents' trophy, the latter being won by James Nash with a solid third place finish.

So to race two, which started as race one ended, with Hondas first and second. However, it was Scotsman Gordon Shedden who was out in front, having beaten championship leader and teammate Mat Neal to the first corner.

Shedden had to defend the onslaught from his teammate after another safety car period, and the leading duo ran to the flag in that order. Some suspected team orders were employed to prevent a repeat of the crash between the two of them at Oulton Park earlier in the season, when they were running first and second on the last lap.

A brief look over the rest of the record equalling 29-car field, and there was plenty of bumping and scraping, not least due to Jason Plato, who started 25th due to his poor luck in race one and managed to battle his way up to an impressive 7th in a car that simply wasn't suited to the demands of Silverstone. It still wasn't enough to keep him in the championship hunt though. The 2011 title would go to a Team Dynamics Honda driver.

The third race and final race of the weekend saw a partially reversed grid. Plato's teammate Alex MacDowall was drawn pole position which meant that the two remaining title contenders would start eighth and ninth.

Shedden, starting behind Matt Neal, had to overcome a six-point deficit to take his first championship. It wasn't to be for Shedden as he failed to make ground on those infront, the two Hondas instead facing challenges from the powerful NGTC-spec cars of Rob Austin and Frank Wrathell throughout the session.

Wrathell in particular, having started the final race of the day from 25th, wasn't worried about mixing it with with the championship leaders and firmly muscled his way past Shedden in front of the thrilled crowd at Luffield corner with the chequered flag within sight.

At the front Jason Plato tried to end the season on a high but his normally-aspirated car just didn't have the straight line speed to pass Tom Chilton, who jumped to first after the first corner and stayed there for the whole race. The Ford driver was visibly delighted on the top step of the podium, in sharp contrast to Plato, who glumly accepted his trophy and then left without it, disappearing before champion and long-time rival Matt Neal was presented with the championship trophy.

Thoughts of his tempestuous relationship with 2001 and 2010 champion Plato probably couldn't have been further from Matt Neal's mind as he sprayed champagne with Shedden and his Honda team. But upon reflection, putting aside the wars of words and the moments when their fights spilled over on to the track or into the pit lane, Neal must recognise that this year more than ever, their rivalry has pushed both themselves and the British Touring Car Championship as a whole, to new levels.

By Simon Boyce. Simon Boyce is a motorsport enthusiast and freelance writer. You can follow Simon on Twitter: @BoyceF1.

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