OFF THE MARK: Matt Neal celebrates his first win for VX Racing.
DROITWICH speedster Matt Neal admitted he was relieved after battling his way through treacherous conditions to record his first win of the new British Touring Car Championship season.
After third and 11th place finishes in Sunday's opening two races at the Rockingham Race Circuit in Northamptonshire, the VX Racing driver held on in soaking wet conditions to record his first victory for his new team.
Earlier, Gordon Shedden of Team Halfords won the opening race, ahead of SEAT's Darren Turner in second and Neal in third, while Matt Jackson raced to victory in his BMW, beating defending champion Fabrizio Giovanardi and Turner in race two.
The outcome of race three was up in the air until the closing stages.
Colin Turkington had built up a big lead but this was eroded during a safety car period.
Afterwards his Team RAC BMW 320si came under attack from a queue of cars and he dropped to seventh position.
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Neal was the first to get past and quickly drew clear of the squabbling pack, setting the race's fastest lap en route.
He said: "It was just a relief to get to the end as much as anything. There was zero visibility because of the spray.
"Half of the battle was just staying on the track. When we qualified in second I was hoping for a podium finish, but I always err on the side of caution in my outlook."
Neal sits in fourth place in the drivers' championship on 57 points, 16 points behind leader Giovanardi.
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