Reigning champion Colin Turkington has deemed the contact with Matt Neal in race two at Brands Hatch as a “professional foul” by the Honda racer, dropping Turkington out of the lead of the British Touring Car Championship standings.
After finishing fifth in race one as Neal’s team-mate Dan Cammish stormed from 12th to first in a rainy encounter, Turkington made a lightning start to the second contest.
He even challenged polesitter Cammish into Paddock Hill Bend, before being pitched into a spin by Neal at Graham Hill Bend on the opening lap.
He told ITV4 the contact was “clearly a professional foul” by Neal, and now believes he is out of contention for the title as Cammish leads by eight points and has a huge advantage in terms of track position for race three.
“I think it’s clearly a professional foul – a red card offence – on Matt’s behalf. I’m just really frustrated,” Turkington told ITV.
“It’s a full season’s work to be taken away in one moment, and Matt’s one of the guys you have a bit more trust with.
“I thought he would have respected what I was doing and where I was. If I had been a Honda and not a BMW, would he have hit the Honda?
“I think he would have held onto the brake a bit longer. He left me absolutely no chance, he hit me in the rear on a greasy track and round I went.”
Turkington continued to describe the move as “extremely selfish,” and admitted the odds are stacked against him heading into the final race of the season.
“It takes me out of the championship. Extremely selfish on his behalf, I don’t know what excuse he will bring to the table but it was lap one.
“All he had to do was brake a bit more. I’m just frustrated, I feel like I’m out of it now. I start 25th and eight points behind Dan Cammish whose at the front of the grid.”
Also speaking to ITV4 after the incident, Neal said he felt the BMW of Turkington “turned across” at Graham Hill Bend, leaving him no room to back out.
“I didn’t see anything wrong, the car was clearly down the inside and he just turned across me,” said Neal.
“There’s no malice between me and Colin at all. I am respectful, if I’d wanted to do Colin I’d have done him in the first race when I had it easy.
“The door was open, I put my car inside it and he turned across. You can’t say anymore than that.”