Three strong points scoring finishes for Honda Racing driver Matt Neal has kept him in the fight for the 2010 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship title as the series prepares for the last three rounds of the year. The 43-year-old powered his Civic to a fourth, a fifth and an eight place finish around the famous Northamptonshire track and Neal says he is in a position to challenge for his third crown during the last nine rounds of the season.

“Silverstone is a track that doesn’t particularly play to our strengths so to come away still in the hunt is a positive thing,” he explained. “We are now going to tracks where we will be able to exploit the excellent package that the Civic gives us so I am optimistic of being right in the fight come the end of the season.”

Carrying success ballast for qualifying and the opening race meant Neal was in a tight group of cars battling at the lower end of the top ten but he nevertheless crossed the line in eighth place. He fought bravely up to fifth place in the second race of the weekend before climbing up to fourth position in the reversed-grid race despite contact at the opening corner that nearly pitched him off the circuit.

“The racing around Silverstone is always tough and it certainly was today,” he said. “It is a hard circuit to pass on because there are so few corners so to be able to improve in each of the races was my main target and that is what we did.”

Neal is third in the points standings heading into the next rounds of the championship, which will be held on the Knockhill circuit in Fife, Scotland. That is home territory for his Honda Racing Team team-mate Gordon ‘Flash’ Shedden who works at the track.

Shedden is just ten points adrift of Neal in the standings in fourth position after the latest instalment of the series. He also scored points on three occasions at Silverstone despite being nudged off the track in the opening race at the very first corner. Recovering from that setback, he battled through to finish in the top ten before he climbed to seventh in race two. In race three, he followed Neal home in fifth place.

“It has been a hard weekend here,” said Shedden. “My car was handling excellently throughout the three races but circumstances beyond my control conspired against us. The first corner problem in race one set the tone for things really but we recovered well. I was in with a chance of taking pole position for the reversed-grid race but they pulled the number six out of the hat when I had finished in seventh place – that was the kind of weekend we had. Like Matt though, I know we have three tracks coming up where the Honda will be the car to have and that gives me optimism.”

The weekend also marked a special celebration of the Honda ‘Type R’ series of cars. 40 Honda Type R owners from the biggest Honda owners' clubs in the UK took part in a special 'Lap of Honour' led out by Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden driving the red Civic Type R MUGEN concept car and World and Olympic Champion cyclist Ed Clancy in his white Civic Type R.

1. Jason Plato, Racing Silverline, Chevrolet Lacetti (171)
2. Tom Onslow-Cole, Team Aon, Ford Focus ST (157)
3. Matt Neal, Honda Racing Team, Honda Civic (148)
4. Gordon Shedden, Honda Racing Team, Honda Civic (138)