Matt Neal made it two wins from two at Thruxton with a controlled performance. Unlike earlier in the day, the double champion was never headed as he left the main action behind him.
It was an even start between Neal, Jason Plato and Tom Onslow-Cole at the start, with Colin Turkington moving through the pack to fourth. The first race wasn’t completely without incident however, with Adam Morgan being forced off wide at the complex, and Aron Smith suffering a scary looking spin later in the lap, where he was narrowly avoided by Frank Wrathall.
Plato initially managed to put pressure on the heavier ballasted Neal, but soon dropped back and was eventually passed by Tom Onslow-Cole. Andrew Jordan and Gordon Shedden were both charging through the field after disappointment in race one and swallowed the MG man up soon after.
Behind the main group there was more frantic action. After his great start, Turkington began dropping back, and lost four places in the space of just a few corners as Jeff Smith, Mat Jackson, Sam Tordoff and Jordan all managed to find a way past the BMW driver earlier in the race.
Race two was briefly interrupted with an appearance by the safety car after Dan Welch crashed his Proton at the chicane.
Once the race restarted, Mat Jackson did a near carbon copy of team mate Aron Smith’s spin earlier in the race, whacking an advertising board, but managing to continue.
There were also problems for Liam Griffin. The race one winner of the Jack Sears trophy ground to a halt out on circuit, whilst James Kaye’s difficult day continued as he too was forced out of the action.
In the late stages of the race, the battle for second really heated up, with Tom Onslow-Cole doing everything to keep the two lighter Hondas of Jordan and Shedden behind him as Neal drove into the distance. A wild sideways moment on the run up to the chicane ultimately saved Onslow-Cole from losing any positions as Shedden capitalised and found a way past the Pirtek machine.
Jack Goff will start the third race of the day on pole position in his Vauxhall Insignia, after finishing in ninth place in the second race.
