DROITWICH-based Halfords Yuasa Racing celebrated a triumphant return to winning ways in the British Touring Car Championships after Matt Neal led from pole position to claim a victory at Thruxton.
Neal and Dan Cammish carried a special livery on their Honda Civic Type-R cars with a ‘Celebrating 100 Years’ windscreen sun strip and a vintage Yuasa Battery logo on the bonnet.
On a breakthrough weekend which successfully demonstrated the full potential of the ever-improving Civic Type-R, Neal was in impeccable form in qualifying to smash his own lap record around the UK’s fastest circuit and pick up the team’s first BTCC pole position of 2018 before translating it into a dominant lights-to-flag win in race one.
Taking full advantage of his opportunity on the Hampshire track, Neal determinedly held his ground from the start line and through the opening turns to get out in front and lead the pack.
From there he wouldn’t be challenged again.
The three-time champion from Worcestershire pulled out a comfortable margin and controlling the pace to the chequered flag to score a hugely popular win at Honda’s home event and give Yuasa the perfect result to mark their 100th anniversary celebrations.
Starting from pole again for race two but hauling a full complement of 75kg success ballast around Thruxton’s high-speed turns, Neal produced a mighty effort to keep many of his substantially lighter rivals at bay, ceding only two positions to finish third and pick up another podium.
In a hard-fought finale, Neal brought the car home eighth, in so doing accumulating more points than any other driver on a scorching day at Thruxton.
Up next for Halfords Yuasa Racing will be a trip to Oulton Park in Cheshire on June 9-10.
