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| Matt Neal | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Neal at theKnockhill round of the2017 British Touring Car Championship | |
| Nationality |  British |
| Born | (1966-12-20)20 December 1966 (age 59) Stourbridge, England |
| British Touring Car Championship career | |
| Debut season | 1991 |
| Current team | Halfords Yuasa Racing |
| Racing licence |  FIA Gold(until 2021) FIA Silver(2022–)[1] |
| Car number | 25 |
| Former teams | VX Racing Peugeot Sport UK Team Mazda Tech-Speed Motorsport Pyramid Motorsport |
| Starts | 719 |
| Wins | 63 |
| Poles | 17 |
| Fastest laps | 52 |
| Best finish | 1st in2005,2006,2011 |
| Previous series | |
| 2018 2002 2001 1998 1993 | Mini Challenge UK ASCAR ETCC British GT Championship DTM |
| Championship titles | |
| 2005–06,2011 | BTCC |
| Awards | |
| BRDC Silver Star | |
Matthew Stephen Phillip Neal (born 20 December 1966) is a British motor racing driver. Neal is a triple BTCC Champion having won theBritish Touring Car Championship in 2005, 2006 and 2011. Neal is also a record 6 time BTCC Independents Champion having won the title in1993,1995,1999,2000,2005 and2006. He is also a race winner in theEuropean Touring Car Championship. He is 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) tall, making him almost entirely unable to race single-seaters. He is also the Group Marketing Director at Rimstock, the alloy wheel manufacturer founded by his father Steve.[2]
Born inStourbridge, Neal started out in Motocross but moved into cars in 1988, driving in the Ford Fiesta XR2i category. He was the British Group N Champion in 1990 and 1991.[3] He also co-drove aBMW M3 to victory at the 1990Willhire 24 Hour race atSnetterton.[citation needed]
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Neal made his BTCC debut with Pyramid Motorsport at theSilverstone round of the1991 BTCC season driving a BMW M3.[4] He finished 13th in his first race before returning to the series two rounds later atOulton Park with theAuto Trader Techspeed Team in another BMW M3. After that race he would race for the team two rounds later atDonington Park. For1992, he joined his father'sTeam Dynamics team driving the BMW M3 whichWill Hoy had taken to the championship title the year before.[5] The car was badly damaged in an accident forcing Neal to switch to the newBMW 318 for the final race of the season.
Neal won the Total Cup for drivers without manufacturer support in1993,[6] before joiningMazda for a season cut short by a huge crash in round five atSilverstone.[7][8] He rejoined Dynamics for 1995, remaining for several years and he occasionally humbled the big names, as well as winning the Independents' title three further times in1995,1999 and2000.[6][9]
In 1999, Neal caused a sensation by winning a race atDonington Park in aNissan Primera, the first Independent to do so in the modern era, winning him a £250,000 prize from BTCC series promoterAlan J. Gow.[10] He took a further win a year later, having been considered a driver to cause a surprise in the championship.[11][12] The championship's regulations changed for 2001, and Neal briefly joinedPeugeot Sport UK before sitting out most of the season to race in theEuropean Touring Car Championship.
Neal drove a one-off appearance in theBritish GT Championship during the 1998 British Grand Prix-supporting race. He finished third, sharing a Porsche 911 GT1 withDavid Leslie.[13]
After racing in one round of the British Touring Car Championship, Neal switched to the European Touring Car Championship's Super Touring category with RJN Motorsport and theirNissan Primera starting with Round 5 atMagny-Cours. He finished the championship placed 14th in the drivers standings on 266 points, taking one win in the final round inPortugal.
Neal returned withegg:sport in2002 driving aVauxhall Astra Coupé alongsidePaul O'Neill. He finished third in the championship, ahead of his teammate on 145 points.
A one-off appearance in theASCAR championship at the end of 2002 saw him running as teammate to his future rivalJason Plato. For 2003, he switched toHonda Racing to drive aHonda Civic Type R, the start of long and mainly undisturbed relationship withHonda. Once again he finished third in the championship ahead of teammatesTom Chilton andAlan Morrison.
Neal rejoined Team Dynamics (now withHalfords sponsorship), finishing 5th in the overall Drivers Championship and 4th in the Independents Championship.
For2005 the team developed aHonda Integra from its basic road-going form, which was an unusual move as independent teams have historically raced ex-works cars, but the team's efforts were rewarded as Neal eventually took the drivers' title in the last round atBrands Hatch. Dynamics, asTeam Halfords also clinched the Teams and Independent Teams Championships. Neal finished every single race in the points, the first driver to do so since the calendar expanded to 30 races per year.
In2006, Neal drove the No. 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. 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 main2007 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 theSEAT 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 teammateGordon Shedden outpoint him to finish 3rd overall, with Neal 4th. He attracted controversy during the season's final race, in whichFabrizio Giovanardi andJason Plato fought for the drivers' title. Having signed on as a Vauxhall driver for2008, Neal let Vauxhall drivers Giovanardi andTom Chilton through without a fight, but did not do the same forSEAT driverJason Plato, ensuring Giovanardi would win the title.
In his first year forVX Racing in 2008, Neal took just one win at Rockingham, while teammate Giovanardi took five wins on the way to retaining his title. He finished the year fifth in the standings. After a strong start to2009, winning the opening race at Brands Hatch, he failed to win again all season, finishing fourth in the standings behind Giovanardi.
Neal returned to Team Dynamics for the2010 season, now racing under the Honda Racing banner alongside former teammateGordon Shedden.[14] Neal lost out in the drivers championship toJason Plato late in the season but he helpedHonda Racing take the Manufacturers and Teams Championships.
Neal stayed with Honda in2011,[15] with theHonda Civic now using a 2.0NGTC Honda engine built by Neil Brown Engines.[16] For much of the season the Civics had an advantage over the rest of the field and after a closely fought title battle with his teammate, Neal took his third drivers' title – after 2005 and 2006 – for the Honda Racing team at the final round atSilverstone,[17] this helping his team to secure the Manufacturers and Constructors title.
In2012, Neal drove the new NGTC Honda Civic. He took the first ever win for an NGTC car in the British Touring Car Championship in the second race of the season at Brands Hatch.[18] Neal won two more races atOulton Park and with teammate Shedden taking the other win,Honda Yuasa Racing Team became the first team to win all three races in a day sinceTeam Aon won all three races atSilverstone in2010.[19][20] He finished the season second in the championship behind teammate Shedden.
Neal stayed with Honda for the2013 season alongside Shedden.[21] Prior to the Silverstone round Neal broke his finger in a martial arts accident but was passed fitted to race by a doctor[22] He underwent surgery before the season finale at Brands Hatch,Alain Menu tested for the team as a possible substitute for Neal in the event he was unable to race.[23] Neal finished the year 4th in the championship, two places behind teammate Shedden.
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Neal was again paired with Shedden for the2014 season, this time driving the newHonda Civic Tourer. Neal was placed 9th in the overall standings.
For the2021 season, Neal made no appearances on the BTCC grid for the first time since his debut in 1991, after Team Dynamics lost backing from Honda andGS Yuasa and obtained sponsorship from Cataclean: as a result the team fielded Shedden and Cataclean-backed driverDaniel Rowbottom as their 2021 line-up. According to Neal the team secured a sponsor to field a third car for him, however this was scuppered when other teams objected to the plan. He described the enforced break in his BTCC career as "not a retirement".[24]
Neal has competed at theBathurst 1000 on four occasions; in1997 and1998 withSteven Richards in aTeam DynamicsNissan Primera, in2000 in aPaul Morris MotorsportHolden Commodore VT withPaul Morris. Withdrew from2001 where he was due to co-drive with Paul Morris due to the 9/11 terrorist attacks a month before the race and in2008 in a Paul Morris MotorsportHolden Commodore VE withBoris Said.[25] He also drove with Morris at the2001 Queensland 500.[26]
Neal lives inShenstone, Worcestershire.[citation needed]
Neal has appeared onTop Gear multiple times. He first raced in the Historic People Carrier race in Series 5. He participated in a football match usingToyota Aygos in Series 6 driving forJames May's team. He raced aMitsubishi L300 motorhome in the tenth series during a motorhome race. Neal appeared once again in Series 12's Bus Race, driving anOptare MetroRider. He then appeared in Series 14's airport vehicles race.[27] In Series 20, episode 2 he drove aMercedes-Benz E-Class in a taxi race. Elsewhere Neal has worked alongsideMartin Haven as a co-commentator onEurosport's coverage of the formerWorld Touring Car Championship since 2010 and currently theWorld Touring Car Cup.[28]
In May 2009, Neal gave both theBeijing gold medallist and2008 World Cycling Champion,Ed Clancy[29] and double World Cycling Champion,Rob Hayles, masterclasses aroundOulton Park in aVauxhall Astra 888 road car, prepared by Triple Eight Engineering – the team behind VX Racing.[30]
In March 2015, Neal drove for Milltek Sport in their diesel Golf in the Mugello 12hr race finishing second in class, a week later driving a 500Hp 1979 Bastos Chevrolet Camaro with David Clark, he won the Gerry Marshall Trophy race at the Goodwood Members Meeting.[citation needed]
During his 2021 sabbatical, Neal linked up withJason Plato for a live recording of a BTCC-themed podcast.[31] Since retiring from motorsport, Neal continues to run the Team Dynamics business, as well as dedicating his online presence to right-wing and anti-immigration movements.
Neal has stated that he keeps fit through training in martial arts, which gives him better aerobic fitness and flexibility. In 2012, he achieved the grade of 2nd dan black belt in the British Free Fighting Academy, after training with martial arts instructor Andy Hopwood.[32]
(key) Races inbold indicate pole position (1 point awarded – 1996–2002 all races, 2003–present just in first race, 2000–2003 in class) Races initalics indicate fastest lap (1 point awarded – 2001–present all races, 2000–2003 in class) * signifies that driver lead race for at least one lap (1 point awarded – 1998–2002 just in feature races, 2003–present all races)
† Event with 2 races staged for the different classes.
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | DC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Team Dynamics | BMW 318i | ZOL 1 | ZOL 2 | HOC 1 | HOC 2 | NÜR 1 | NÜR 2 | WUN 1 | WUN 2 | NÜR 1 | NÜR 2 | NOR 1 | NOR 2 | DON 1 Ret | DON 2 19 | DIE 1 | DIE 2 | SIN 1 | SIN 2 | AVU 1 | AVU 2 | HOC 1 | HOC 2 | NC† | 0† |
Source:[34] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
† Not classified in championship due to only entering in the non-championship event.
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | DC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | RJN Motorsport | Nissan Primera GT | MNZ 1 | MNZ 2 | BRN 1 | BRN 2 | MAG 1 Ret | MAG 2 4 | SIL 1 3 | SIL 2 4 | ZOL 1 DSQ | ZOL 2 2 | HUN 1 14 | HUN 2 DNS | A1R 1 | A1R 2 | NÜR 1 3 | NÜR 2 18 | JAR 1 5 | JAR 2 Ret | EST 1 22 | EST 2 1 | 14th | 266 |
Source:[34] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
*Super Touring race
Media related toMatt Neal at Wikimedia Commons
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | British Touring Car Champion 2005–2006 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | British Touring Car Champion 2011 | Succeeded by |
| Awards and achievements | ||
| Preceded by | Autosport National Racing Driver of the Year 2005 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Autosport Awards National Driver of the Year 2011 | Succeeded by |
