ANY hopes Dan Eaves might have had of being crowned Dunlop MSA British Touring Car champion evaporated at Silverstone last weekend.

The Moreton-in-Marsh driver slid out of the opening race but did hit back to claim third spot in race two of the afternoon and ended the day with fourth in the final outing ahead of the last leg of this summer's series at Brands Hatch on October 2.

It's Eaves' Team Halfords teammate, Matt Neal, who looks destined to lift the prestigious title despite failing to land even a podium position in Northamptonshire.

The Hanbury ace leads Yvan Muller by 30 points with Eaves, below, still in third place a further 23 points adrift.

Vauxhall, meanwhile, has all but clinched a fifth successive manufacturers crown with Team Halfords seemingly set to lift the team championship.

The latter's latest acquisition, Gareth Howell, started Sunday's opener from pole position but it was Tom Chilton who moved into the lead at the first bend and led right until the end of a contest extended by two laps following the Moreton driver's departure that caused a brief safety car period.

Driving the Honda Integra, Evesham born Eaves enjoyed a bit of good fortune in race two when, after finishing fourth behind Jason Plato, Luke Hines and Gavin Smith, he was elevated into third place after Plato was excluded after an incident with early leader Chilton.

Team Halfords also celebrated as Neal's fourth place finish saw him increase his advantage and it got better for the team when Howell produced a superb drive from 12th on the grid to take the honours in the day's final race.

Eaves enjoyed another fine race but just missed out on a second podium after a tense tussle with Chilton and Rob Collard. Neal finished seventh after running off the circuit when lying in third place.