Matt Neal
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Matt Neal | |
|---|---|
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| 2008 BTCC driver | |
| Nationality |  |
| Nickname | |
| Car # | 4 |
| Team | VX Racing |
| Car | Vauxhall Vectra |
| Championships | 2 |
| Wins | 28 |
| Podium finishes | 64 |
| Poles | 9 |
| Fastest laps | 25 |
| Debut season | 1991 |
| Best championship result | 1st (2005, 2006) |
| 2007 position | 4th (195 points) |
Matt Neal (born December 20, 1966 in Stourbridge) is a British motor racing driver. He won the British Touring Car Championship in 2005 and 2006. He has also won an European Touring Car Championship race. He is 6'6" tall, making him almost entirely unable to race single-seaters.
He first entered the BTCC in the early 90s with his father's Team Dynamics squad, having co-driven a BMW M3 to victory at the 1990 Willhire 24 Hour race at Snetterton. He won the Total Cup for drivers without manufacturer support in 1993, before joining Mazda for a season cut short by a huge crash at Silverstone. He rejoined Dynamics for 1995, remaining for several years and occasionally humbled the big names, as well as winning the Independents' title three further times. In 1999 he caused a sensation by winning a race at Donington Park in his Nissan, the first Independent to do so in the modern era, winning him a £250,000 prize. He took a further win a year later.
The championship's regulations changed for 2001, and Neal briefly joined Peugeot before sitting out most of the season. He returned with Vauxhall in 2002 and Honda in 2003, finishing 3rd in the championship both times, before rejoining Dynamics (now with Halfords sponsorship and coming 5th in 2004.
For 2005 the team developed a Honda Integra from its basic road-going form, which was an unusual move as independent teams have historically raced ex-works cars, but he eventually took the drivers' title in the last round at Brands Hatch. It is also to be noted that Neal finished every single race in the points, the first driver to do so since the calendar expanded to 30 races per year.
In 2006, Neal droves the #1 Honda Integra and captured the championship again with a string of consistent finishes; 4th place in round 28 being enough to clinch his second title. Ironically, after 2 years without a mechanical failure, Neal had a suspension failure before the start of the final race.
BTC-spec cars such as the Integra were no longer eligible for the main 2007 title, so Dynamics switched to a Honda Civic, using some of their existing running gear but doing development themselves. Neal won the third race of the season, but overall the SEAT and Vauxhall entries were faster, leaving Neal unable to fight for the title. A huge crash in race 1 of the second meeting at Brands Hatch left him briefly hospitalised; the lost points from this saw team-mate Gordon Shedden pass him for 3rd overall. He attracted controversy during the season's final race, in which Fabrizio Giovanardi and Jason Plato fought for the drivers' title. Having signed on as a Vauxhall driver for 2008, Neal let Vauxhall drivers Giovanardi and Tom Chilton through without a fight, but did not do the same for SEAT driver Plato, ensuring Giovanardi would win the title. Neal is known to not get along with Plato.
He now lives in Droitwich Spa in Worcestershire.
[edit] External links
- Neal's Official Website
- btcc:action profile
- Matt Neal BTCC Results
- Profile from btccinfo.co.uk
- Profile from btcc.net
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by James Thompson |
British Touring Car Champion 2005-2006 |
Succeeded by Fabrizio Giovanardi |
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