DROITWICH dynamo Matt Neal has more than trebled his Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship lead over Evesham team-mate Dan Eaves.

Neal triumphed in one of the three races at Oulton Park, Cheshire, but Eaves missed out on a round victory and is now 24 points behind his Team Halfords colleague.

However, the experienced Neal is taking nothing for granted and insisted the title race remains wide open, despite his sizeable lead at the top.

Chasing the champion's crown for the first time in almost 15 years of BTCC racing, he said: "Sunday has been really good to me.

"Three podium finishes with a lot of success ballast in my car are fantastic results, but I'm not naive enough to think the rest can't catch me.

"One non-finish, like Yvan Muller in race three, and it will be back to square one. SEAT is going to be very strong from now on and Vauxhall is not far away with a car that is still developing."

With SEAT Sport UK's Jason Plato and Arena Motorsports' Tom Chilton winning the two other rounds, third-placed Muller is now 15 points ahead of Plato and nine behind Eaves.

Vauxhall lead SEAT by just six points in the Manufacturers' Championship, while Team Halfords have extended their lead in both the Teams' and Independents Teams' Trophy.

Neal and Eaves are also pushing forward in the Independents Trophy for drivers.

In the first weekend race, Plato held on for his first victory of 2005 but came under increasing pressure from Neal, who set the race's fastest lap, and Eaves was third ahead of Muller.

Plato then led the opening laps of race two until Neal sensationally drove around the outside through the fast Old Hall corner to take the lead and his fifth win of the season with Eaves again third.

On a soaking wet track, the third race saw several crashes as Chilton triumphed though Neal claimed a handy third. Eaves was back in sixth after briefly slithering off the track.

The BTCC now heads to Croft, North Yorkshire, on July 17.