Adam Morgan was left ruing his race three defeat to Matt Neal at Knockhill, but said that he has greatly improved after leading for much of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship race in Scotland.
Morgan held the lead from the start from pole position, but collected debris on the front of his Mercedes A-Class late in proceedings which left him under attack from Neal’s Honda Civic Type-R. Neal made his way by heading into the hairpin, snatching the win from the Ciceley Racing man who was heading for a second win of the season.
Morgan said that he felt he could have defended the move more sternly in fact, stating that he was caught out by Neal’s late-braking move.
“Hopefully I can say that it was out of my control”, Morgan said The Checkered Flag afterwards. “It”s not often you come over something over the top of a chicane at Knockhill and you find somebody’s bumper there.
“I didn’t even see it until I hit it and then I lost over a second. Matt then made his typical type of move late on the brakes – which I was kicking myself about because I should have known.
“I know what they’re capable of under braking, I should have defended better so a little bit of a mistake on my part.”
Continuing on the debris incident, Morgan said: “The first time I saw it I didn’t know what it would do to the car so I had to back off. When I got to turn six I hoped it wouldn’t get caught under the wheels and go straight on, so I went through really slowly before it came off at the hairpin.
“That’s motorsport! I heard it looked dramatic so I put on a good show.”
The near victory however showed that Morgan and Mercedes were again forces in the BTCC, the Thruxton winner saying that he feels he has improved as a driver this season.
“I’ve improved over the last few years in leading from the front. Before I used to always check my mirrors, trying too hard and then making mistakes whereas I now get my head down and try to pull away.
“With that I can push for podiums now, so it’s all coming good – the car is getting better and better and fingers crossed there’ll be more of the same at Rockingham.”