Matt Neal admits he was happy to secure a podium finish from his first weekend with the VX Racing team after the 2008 HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship season kicked off at
Brands Hatch.
Having spend recent seasons back in the family fold with the Team Dynamics-run Team Halfords squad, Neal moved out of his ‘comfort zone' for the new campaign to join an expanded three-car Vauxhall line-up alongside defending champion Fabrizio Giovanardi and second-year driver
Tom Onslow-Cole.
The weekend didn't start well for Neal when he damaged the splitter on his car during qualifying and was forced to start from tenth on the grid for the opening race. However, the two-time champion produced a solid drive to fifth place in the first race of the year before finishing race two in seventh after a long-battle with team-mate Onslow-Cole.
The reverse grid saw Neal start the final race of the weekend from the second row of the grid and he battled hard with the John Guest Racing Honda of Mike Jordan before securing the final place on the podium behind
BMW pairing
Colin Turkington and
Mat Jackson.
“I'm relieved to get onto the podium at the end of the weekend but it's been a tough one for me, learning more and more about the Vectra and how it all works,” he said. “It's been challenging but every time we get into the car we are learning which is good me for.
“I lost the splitter in qualifying which did put me on the back foot a little bit, but qualifying was a lottery in terms of pulling the times out of the bag. I think I could have got into the top four but I didn't really belong there as I didn't have the pace. I missed the window so tenth was where I was at which was a shame.
“In the races, we learnt a bit more and the reverse grid helped with the podium in race three. It's just a case making little steps and chipping away at it.”
Neal added that there is work to do within the team as he seeks to get fully onto the pace with the Vectra and he said he was hopeful of making further progress when the series heads to Rockingham for the second round of the year.
