Halfords Yuasa Racing’s Matt Neal provisionally took victory in a frenetic second British Touring Car Championship race at Croft, after last lap contact between himself and race one winner Josh Cook.
Polesitter Cook again led the way from pole position from front row starter Jake Hill, as drama unfolded behind with reigning champion Colin Turkington finding himself in the barriers on the exit of Clervaux after a costly lock up under braking in his BMW.
Fellow title contender Rory Butcher then had a moment of his own, spearing off at the chicane and firing his Motorbase Ford onto the grass, plummeting out of the points in the process.
At that juncture it seemed Ash Sutton in third position had the advantage in terms of the championship standings with two of his title rivals falling by the wayside, but a bold move on Jake Hill’s Honda at the hairpin failed to pay dividends as the pair made contact and left the Infiniti with a front-right puncture.
It was then Matt Neal who made rapid progress in his weight-free Honda Civic, getting past first Jake Hill’s Honda before pressurising race leader Cook for the win in the closing stages of the 16-lap encounter.
There was then contact as the pair headed into Sunny In, with Neal’s front-left tagging the rear-right panel of Cook’s Honda and sending him into a slide. While Neal provisionally won the race on the road, it seems likely the positions may well be reversed following a stewards review.
MB Motorsport’s Jake Hill held on for his second podium of the day in third position, ahead of Toyota Gazoo Racing UK’s Tom Ingram who made rapid progress with zero ballast abord his Toyota Corolla to fourth.
Dan Cammish managed to break into the top five positions after steady progress that has now left him only 13 points adrift of leader Sutton in the championship standings, after getting past fellow Honda racer Tom Chilton with a few laps remaining.
Team BMW’s Tom Oliphant was next in seventh, while Bobby Thompson managed another solid result in his Trade Price Cars Audi S3, ahead of Senna Proctor and Stephen Jelley who completed the top ten.
Sutton’s team-mate Aiden Moffat brought his Infiniti Q50 home in 11th position, ahead of the second Excelr8 Motorsport Hyundai of Chris Smiley, while Adam Morgan, Sam Osborne and Mike Bushell completed the points-paying positions.
The final British Touring Car Championship race of the day at Croft is scheduled to get underway at 17:06 BST.
Race result
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 25 | M | Matt NEAL |  |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type-R | 16 | 23:09.898 | 1:22.562 | 7 |
| 2 | 66 | I | Josh COOK | |
BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type-R | 16 | 0.529 | 1:22.725 | 1 |
| 3 | 24 | I | Jake HILL | |
MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square | Honda Civic Type-R | 16 | 1.164 | 1:22.879 | 2 |
| 4 | 80 | M | Tom INGRAM | |
Toyota Gazoo Racing UK with Ginsters | Toyota Corolla | 16 | 1.616 | 1:22.527 | 13 |
| 5 | 27 | M | Dan CAMMISH | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type-R | 16 | 5.202 | 1:22.673 | 10 |
| 6 | 3 | I | Tom CHILTON | |
BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type-R | 16 | 8.693 | 1:23.097 | 6 |
| 7 | 15 | M | Tom OLIPHANT | |
Team BMW | BMW 330i M Sport | 16 | 8.875 | 1:22.330 | 11 |
| 8 | 19 | I | Bobby THOMPSON | |
GKR TradePriceCars.com | Audi S3 | 16 | 9.489 | 1:23.090 | 8 |
| 9 | 18 | I | Senna PROCTOR | |
Excelr8 Motorsport | Hyundai i30 Fastback N | 16 | 14.573 | 1:23.001 | 18 |
| 10 | 12 | I | Stephen JELLEY | |
Team Parker Racing | BMW 125i M Sport | 16 | 15.473 | 1:23.115 | 15 |
| 11 | 16 | I | Aiden MOFFAT | |
Laser Tools Racing | Infiniti Q50 | 16 | 17.396 | 1:22.958 | 16 |
| 12 | 22 | I | Chris SMILEY | |
Excelr8 Motorsport | Hyundai i30 Fastback N | 16 | 19.052 | 1:23.386 | 12 |
| 13 | 32 | I | Adam MORGAN | |
Carlube Triple R Racing with Mac Tools | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 16 | 22.835 | 1:23.377 | 9 |
| 14 | 4 | I | Sam OSBORNE | |
MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square | Honda Civic Type-R | 16 | 22.976 | 1:23.224 | 25 |
| 15 | 21 | I | Mike BUSHELL | |
RCIB Insurance Racing with Fox Transport | Volkswagen CC | 16 | 23.269 | 1:23.072 | 19 |
| 16 | 44 | I | Andy NEATE | |
Motorbase Performance | Ford Focus ST | 16 | 27.980 | 1:23.598 | 21 |
| 17 | 32 | I | Jack BUTEL | |
Carlube Triple R Racing with Mac Tools | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 16 | 28.900 | 1:23.947 | 23 |
| 18 | 31 | I | Jack GOFF | |
RCIB Insurance Racing with Fox Transport | Volkswagen CC | 16 | 31.145 | 1:23.394 | 17 |
| 19 | 6 | I | Rory BUTCHER | |
Motorbase Performance | Ford Focus ST | 15 | 46.635 | 1:22.298 | 5 |
| 20 | 116 | I | Ashley SUTTON | |
Laser Tools Racing | Infiniti Q50 | 12 | + 1 LAP | 1:22.384 | 4 |
| R | 777 | I | Michael CREES | |
The Clever Baggers with BTC Racing | Honda Civic Type-R | 1 | DNF | 1:23.257 | 22 |
| R | 48 | I | Ollie JACKSON | |
Motorbase Performance | Ford Focus ST | 0 | DNF | N/A | 14 |
| R | 1 | M | Colin TURKINGTON | |
Team BMW | BMW 330i M Sport | – | DNF | N/A | 3 |
| NS | 41 | I | Carl BOARDLEY | |
Team HARD. | BMW 125i M Sport | – | DNS | N/A | 20 |
| NS | 28 | I | Nicolas HAMILTON | |
ROKiT Racing with Team HARD. | Volkswagen CC | – | DNS | N/A | 24 |
| NS | 29 | I | Jac CONSTABLE | |
Power Maxed Car Care Racing | Vauxhall Astra | – | DNS | N/A | – |
