Matt Neal left to wonder what might have been

Matt Neal admitted that his Croft weekend was a case of ‘what might have been’ after he picked up just eleven points from the final BTCC race before the summer break.

The Honda driver had gone into the weekend looking to add to the impressive points haul he secured at Oulton Park, where he had qualified at the front of the grid for the second successive meeting and then brought his Civic Type-R home on the podium twice.

It would prove to be a more challenging weekend in North Yorkshire however, with the former champion on the back foot after only managing eight on the grid in the truncated qualifying session.

Early contact in race one would force him into retirement and there was no chance to score in race two when he was one of a number of drivers in the midfield to go off on fluid at the Esses – leaving his battle-scarred Civic off the pace for the remainder of the race.

Although he battled through to fifth place in race three, Neal lost ground to the front-runners in the points and now sits 53 points down on team-mate Shedden in the standings.

“This weekend was a case of what might have been for me,” he reflected. “Obviously qualifying jumbled the grid and then it was just bad luck in the first two races.

“In race one, [Josh] Price ran into the back of me and broke my rear suspension. In the second race, I hit some fluid through the Esses while making my way through the pack and that did a huge amount of damage which blunted my pace.

“In the third race the little Civic Type R was awesome, it was hooked up from the start and I managed to carve my way through the pack to finish fifth and gain many much-needed points. I am looking forward to the summer break now and will come back fighting in the second half of the season with it all to play for.”