Collard fuming after Neal incident

Rob Collard and Matt Neal were forced to retire from the third race at Thruxton after a controversial clash in the fight for the lead.
“The BTCC is a very professional championship but then you got Neal,” said a fuming Collard after the race.

The two were, together with Steven Kane, fighting for the lead in the early stages of the race. Collard was leading and defending from Kane when Neal closed in on them rapidly.

Neal then saw his opportunity to pass them both for the lead in the final chicane before the start/finish stragiht. The move resulted in Collard spinning off in to the barriers and Neal retiring due to damage from the crash between the two.

“I got a good run on them in to the chicane and Collard seemed to brake early. The thing is I got nowhere to go. We went side by side and I had to use a bit of cerb. Whether Collard didn’t see me I don’t know, I’ve done this move several times. It was too bad as the car was on fire today,” said Neal.

Collard did not share Neal’s view on the incident.

“It was dirty tactics, disgusting,” said Collard.

The stewards have announced that they are going to investigate the incident ahead of the coming race at Rockingham.