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Honda Yuasa Racing secure sensational double at Knockhill

Honda Yuasa Racing duo Gordon Shedden and Matt Neal are back in the hunt for the 2015 British Touring Car Championship following an excellent result at Knockhill, where both drivers celebrated victory on the top step of the podium.

Shedden – Knockhill’s hometown hero – put his previous result at Snetterton very much behind him as he enjoyed a successful weekend, delighting the partisan crowd. Starting the weekend with a strong performance in race one, the Scot defended his position well, securing a top five finish. The second race saw Shedden – who started in P2 – proving the prowess of the Honda Civic Type R as he pulled off a surprise move at Clark’s corner, taking the race lead from Mat Jackson. It was a brilliant manoeuvre synonymous with Shedden’s attacking driving style and the 2012 champion never looked back, cruising to win the race as thousands of fans stood and applauded their hero. The reversed grid of race three positioned ‘Flash’ in P10 and he made his way up the pack to finish the contest in eighth position.

Matt Neal (GBR) Honda Racing Team Honda Civic Type-R

Flash’s team-mate Neal achieved a similarly superb result for Honda Yuasa Racing. It was a P7 start in race one for the triple BTCC champ, who held his position well around the ‘rollercoaster’ style circuit to finish in sixth position. He secured a steady eighth place in race two resulting in a P3 start position for the final encounter. Neal fought to the last moment in race three, firing the Civic Type R past the race-long leader Adam Morgan on the penultimate lap with arguably the move of the weekend, providing a thrilling finale and the second top-of-the-podium finish for the team.
Shedden and Neal currently stand 2nd and 3rd respectively in the championship title standings.

Gordon Shedden said: It’s been good to bounce back after Snetterton and it’s definitely nice to score good points in all three races – I’ve won a race, Matt’s won a race so we are back in the hunt and we can go out fighting again in two weeks at Rockingham.
It’s been brilliant to win here at my home circuit! I’ve never seen a crowd as enthusiastic as we’ve had this weekend so it’s just an amazing feeling to be part of it, especially with a good result.
Every lap has been an adventure. I’ve given it everything and it’s worked pretty well – we’ve ended up with some good points and points make prizes at the end of the day.
We’ve done a great job with the car this weekend – the Type R was brilliant and a pleasure to drive. I hoped the Honda would be competitive around Knockhill but you just never know where it’s going to stack up. We’ve worked hard at it, improving it significantly so hopefully we can continue the momentum at Rockingham.

Matt Neal (GBR) Honda Racing Team Honda Civic Type-R

Matt Neal said: Considering we were looking forward to Snetterton and we thought we were going to be strong there and weak here, it just shows you how quickly the whole championship can turn around. To bounce back with two wins for the team just highlights the hard work everyone is putting in and how good the Honda Civic Type R really is.
The car was fabulous around the track today. The Type R is a very agile piece of kit and that’s paid us back dividends this weekend – it’s performed very well.
Heading to Knockhill, I didn’t p two race wins but we are now second and third in the championship which is great. I’m looking forward to Rockingham – we had a good test there last month but it’s definitely going to be ‘game-on’ for all of us.

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