Matt Neal tops wet second Oulton Park session

Matt Neal emerged with the quickest time in a rain affected second free practice session ahead of round four of the BTCC season at Oulton Park.

Heavy showers during the preceding support sessions left drivers with challenging conditions on track, with continuing rainfall throughout meaning that the best times would be more than ten seconds slower than during FP1.

Although a number of drivers took their turn at the head of the times as the session progressed, it was Neal who would emerge quickest – ironically going quickest of all just as a heavier shower hit the Cheshire circuit.

His best time of 1min 37.051secs was good enough to prevent James Cole from claiming the spoils for Team BMR, with the local driver continuing to enjoy a solid weekend on track in his Subaru Levorg.

In fact, Neal would prove to be something of an interloper amongst the rear wheel drive cars at the head of the times, with the BMWs of Colin Turkington and Matt Neal taking third and fourth, with Ashley Sutton then slotting into P5.

Dan Lloyd, now running in the spare MG chassis after his accident at Thruxton, rounded out the top six ahead of Josh Cook, Andrew Jordan, Jason Plato and Jeff Smith.

Championship leader Tom Ingram would end the session down in 16th spot in his Speedworks Motorsport-run Avensis but that was still ahead of his closest rival Gordon Shedden – who was on for his best time of the session before a mistake at Druids that saw him go off.

The Scot, who was able to bring his car back to the pits under its own steam, had earlier been forced to change his steering wheel because of a problem.