REIGNING touring cars champion Matt Neal suffered a frustrating weekend at Donington when he was outshone by teammate Gordon Sheddon but did enough to stay top of the drivers' standings.
The Redditch-based driver is still 22 points clear of nearest rival Colin Turkington in the 2006 British Touring Cars Championship despite his most disappoiting meeting of the season.
After qualifying a disappointing sixth in his Halfords Race Team Honda Integra, Neal finished fourth, fifth and seventh in rounds 16-18 and will be hoping to get back to his consistent podium form at Snetterton a week on Sunday.
Former privateer Neal leads the pack courtesy of 11 podium finishes from the previous 15 rounds - including five wins.
Neal picked up his first BTCC title last year after dominating the independents' scene for years and famously picking up a £250,000 cheque as the first privateer to win a race outright - ironically at Donington, in 1999.
Independents' Cup winner in '93, '95, '99 and 2000, Neal was instrumental in guiding the Pershore-based Halfords team to the team title last year.
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