Matt Neal loses tenth in a penalty-light Thruxton meeting

Matt Neal has lost tenth place from Race 3 after having been deemed guilty of straight-lining the chicane on the final lap as he overtook Tom Chilton’s Power Maxed Vauxhall.

Neal’s penalty was one of just two handed out at the end of the day, after Team HARD’s Jake Hill had been given a reprimand and two points on his racing licence for his incident with Team Parker Racing’s Josh Cook in Race 1.

Neal had half a second added to his time which dropped him from tenth to 11th behind Chilton, after cutting the chicane on the final lap, after having driven from 29th on the grid following his failure in Race 2.

“I was holding off Matt Neal quite well, the only way he could get past really was outbraking around the outside and cutting the chicane,” said Chilton to TouringCarTimes. “Looking at the footage, I think he should give the place back to me. I think they’ll say he pushed his luck with that one.”

Neal and Hill were the only penalties of the day, though Tom Chilton himself picked up a points penalty and had a lap deleted in qualifying for not respecting yellow flags.