AT CROFT AS NEAL EXTENDS LEAD

Vauxhall team-mates Colin Turkington and Yvan Muller and Team Halfords’ Dan Eaves were the winners of yesterday’s three Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship races in front of live ITV1 cameras at the Croft circuit in North Yorkshire. But it is Eaves’ team-mate Matt Neal who has extended his championship lead as the BTCC now heads straight to Mondello Park in Ireland for round six next Sunday 24 July.

Race one saw Northern Irish star Turkington lead all the way from pole position to take his first victory for Vauxhall since joining the Luton marque at the start of this season. Turkington also set the race’s fastest lap in his Astra Sport Hatch for a bonus point. Muller finished second and Neal third after they had swapped positions at the start. Jason Plato, very much the local hero thanks to his North East roots, was fourth in his SEAT Sport UK Toledo Cupra.

Officials called an early end to the race after independent driver Mark Proctor crashed heavily in his Fast-Tec team’s Vauxhall Astra.

Turkington started race two from pole position but was passed by Muller into the first corner. Their positions remained unchanged for the rest of the race, with Muller setting the race’s fastest lap en route to his third victory of the season ahead of Turkington. Third, right behind Turkington at the end, was Tom Chilton in Arena Motorsports’ Honda Civic.

Muller’s win lifted him up to second in the championship, behind Neal and ahead of Eaves, both of whom lost time and places in controversial incidents with Plato. Neal fell to sixth when he and Plato collided at the hairpin. Then Eaves was sent spinning down to tenth when he tangled with Plato as they exited the high-speed chicane. Plato ultimately finished 13th and out of the points after a pit stop to repair his damaged car.

Eaves’ tenth place at least gave him pole position for race three, thanks to the championship’s top ten reversed grid rule, and he took full advantage to lead from start to finish for his fourth win of 2005. Neal, starting from fifth, climbed to second and was only six hundredths of a second behind Eaves as their cars crossed the finish line in a Team Halfords 1-2. Eaves’ also crucially set the race’s fastest lap to earn the bonus point that has moved him back into second in the championship past Muller.

Plato, starting 13th, produced the race’s most exciting performance as he fought his way through the field and up to third by the chequered flag – a result that just keeps him in touch with Neal, Eaves and Muller at the top of the table. Turkington and Muller could only manage seventh and eighth place finishes this time.

In the BTCC’s championship for Manufacturers, Vauxhall has increased its lead over SEAT to 40 points and its competition arm VX Racing has closed slightly on Team Halfords in the Teams’ title race. Team Halfords remains the dominant force in the Independents Trophy, with Neal leading Eaves in the drivers’ standings ahead of reigning champion WSR’s Rob Collard, Chilton and James Kaye, in Synchro Motorsport’s Honda Civic.

For the second meeting in a row, Halfords’ dominance was broken by Chilton who was the highest independent runner in race two thanks to his third place finish overall. In the independent teams’ standings, however, Halfords’ points tally is more than double that of nearest challenger WSR, with Arena close behind in third.