Dan Eaves, Jason Plato and Rob Collard were the winners of Sunday;s final three Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship races of 2005 at Brands Hatch, Kent but the driver of the day was undoubtedly Matt Neal who for the first time in his career finally became crowned BTCC Champion.Neal's family-run Team Halfords squad has also become the first independent team to win British motor sport's most prestigious title against the might of the manufacturer outfits since 1991. It was in 1991 that Neal made his BTCC debut and since he has won the independents drivers' title five times and even scooped £250,000 for beating all the manufacturer teams' drivers in a race at Donington Park in 1999. But the overall title has always eluded him. Until today, that is.

"It’s an emotional moment. It’s fabulous," said Neal. "Everybody who’s involved in backing this team has won today. If you’d told me before the season started that I’d be crowned champion, when you think of who we’ve been up against – Vauxhall, SEAT and some other very good teams and drivers – I’d have struggled to believe it."

Vauxhall, meanwhile, has won a fifth consecutive manufacturers' title ahead of SEAT. But it is Team Halfords that has clinched the teams' title over Vauxhall's VX Racing squad and SEAT Sport UK. Team Halfords and Neal also end the season as dominant winners of the Independents Trophy's teams' and drivers' championships respectively.Race 1, 15 laps (39.30miles)Weather / Track: Sunny / DryEaves Wins Race OneTeam Halfords' Dan Eaves led all the way from the first BTCC pole position of his career and set a new race lap record around Brands' full-length Grand Prix circuit to secure his fifth win of the season at the wheel of his Honda Integra.Eaves' only worry came when a safety car period erased his advantage over the field, but at the restart he was again able to draw clear. Vauxhall's Gavin Smith maintained second until the penultimate lap when he was overtaken by his title-chasing team-mate Yvan Muller. On the final lap, SEAT's Jason Plato and Team Halfords' team-mates Matt Neal and Gareth Howell also squeezed past Smith who finished a frustrated sixth.The result meant Neal's championship lead over Muller was now down to 26 points. In race two, therefore, Muller would need to finish inside the top four and score nine more points than Neal if he was to keep alive his fading title hopes.BTCC officials later punished Howell for his part in an incident with Rob Collard whose WSR MG span off the track. Howell not only received two penalty points on his competition licence, but was also ordered back six places to 11th on race two's starting grid.Result:1. Dan EAVES (GBR), Team Halfords/Honda Integra, 24m35.507s2. Yvan MULLER (FRA), VX Racing/Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch, +1.089s3. Jason PLATO (GBR), SEAT Sport UK/SEAT Toledo Cupra, +1.430sFastest Lap: Eaves, 1m33.178s (RECORD)Race 2, 14 laps (36.68 miles)Weather / Track: Sunny / DryPlato Wins, Neal Takes Title  Plato took his third win of the season after pressuring early leader Eaves into a mistake. Eaves had led from pole position but 2001 champion Plato seized his moment to move to into the lead when the Team Halfords driver made a mistake at the tricky Westfield Bend. Plato then went on to achieve an untroubled victory.Eaves finished second but all eyes were on Neal in third who, having set the race's fastest lap, crossed the line to become the new Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Champion. Neal's drive to the title was not straightforward, however. Through the first corner, his car was sideways across the track after tangling with Vauxhall's Colin Turkington. At mid-distance, Neal's Honda Integra and title rival Muller's Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch then dramatically made contact at high speed. Muller's car suffered a punctured tyre and the Frenchman, his title hopes now in tatters, needed to make a pit stop. Neal, meanwhile, survived to take more than enough points to put the crown beyond Muller's reach.Muller finished 12th - out of the points - and that meant he was now just four points clear of Eaves in the battle to be championship runner-up heading into the day's third race, the final race of the 2005 season.Completing the top six were Howell, Smith and SEAT's James Pickford. But officials later excluded Howell and added a further four penalty points to his competition licence for barging Pickford off the track mid-race. This meant all those behind were promoted a place and Andy Neate, on his BTCC debut in new entry Team Nuts with Daniels Motorsport's Vauxhall Astra Coupe, took tenth and therefore pole position for race three thanks to the top ten reversed grid rule. Collard, who initially finished tenth, was elevated to ninth and would thus start from second on the grid.Result:1. Jason PLATO (GBR), SEAT Sport UK/SEAT Toledo Cupra, 22m07.148s2. Dan EAVES (GBR), Team Halfords/Honda Integra, +1.690s3. Matt NEAL (GBR), Team Halfords/Honda Integra, +2.114sFastest Lap: Neal, 1m33.491sRace 3, 17 laps (44.54 miles)Weather / Track: Sunny / Dry  Collard Wins Hard Fought Season FinaleRob Collard came out on top of a hard fought final race of 2005 to take his second win of the season. Collard took the lead at the start, but was under massive pressure throughout from Pickford. At one stage, Pickford nosed ahead, but his and Collard's cars made contact and the latter was able to keep in front to the finish. Collard also lowered the lap record that had been smashed earlier in the day.Behind, Smith held off newly-crowned champion Neal and then a late charge from Howell to end his rookie BTCC season with a strong third place finish. Neal fell back to an eventual fifth behind Howell when his car's bodywork started rubbing on a tyre.The race's chief talking point, though, was the multi-car pile-up that eliminated three of the BTCC's biggest names - Muller, Eaves and Plato. As they completed lap one, Muller ran into the back of Eaves' car and the pair of them went spinning off into the barriers. Plato was unable to avoid them and also ran off the track into retirement.Result:1. Rob COLLARD (GBR), WSR/MG ZS, 29m25.626s2. James PICKFORD (GBR), SEAT Sport UK/SEAT Toledo Cupra, +1.914s3. Gavin SMITH (IRL), VX Racing/Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch, +8.508sFastest Lap: Collard, 1m33.148s (NEW RECORD)Final Leading BTCC Points After Brands Hatch: Drivers:1. Matt NEAL                   316pts2. Yvan MULLER              273pts3. Dan EAVES                 269pts4. Jason PLATO               208pts5. Tom CHILTON              175pts6. Colin TURKINGTON      174ptsManufacturers:1. VAUXHALL                  781pts2. SEAT                          629ptsTeams:1. Team Halfords              573pts2. VX Racing                    470pts3. SEAT Sport UK            306pts  Matt Neal: the 2005 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Champion