Neal angry over 'uncalled for' incident.

Matt Neal insists that the collison with Rob Collard that saw the defending Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Champion crash out of race three at Brands Hatch was 'completely uncalled for'.

Neal suffered a high speed spin into the barriers at Paddock Hill bend after contact from the Team RAC MG ZS of Collard, with the race red-flagged while Neal exited his damaged Honda Integra.

It was Neal's first retirement in over a season of BTCC competition and leaves the team with work to do ahead of the second round of the season at Mondello Park.

While Collard apologised for the incident after the race, insisted that contact hadn't been deliberate and was nothing to do with the move Neal made at the previous corner to take second pace, the defending champion held a different view.

"We could have had a mega points score this weekend from two thirds and a second and it was done, we had it in the bag" he said. "To walk away with not only a non-finish in the third race, but also a wrecked car, makes me very angry because it was uncalled for.

"I could see he was slow into Clearways so I went up his inside and he then latched onto me coming down the straight. I could see he was lining me up and I could tell by the way he positioned his car that he was going to do something stupid. I took a defensive line into Paddock and he just smacked into the back of me really hard. It was a big hit."

The loss of a possible second place from the race means Neal sits seventh in the championship standings rather than second, while Collard was excluded from the results by race stewards for his part in the incident.

However with Team RAC having launched an appeal into the exclusion to the Motor Sports Council National Court - an appeal which will be held on a date to be advised by the MSC - the results of race three and championship standings remain provisional.