DRIVING ace Matt Neal ended a 15-year curse at Thruxton Park by winning round 11 of the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) to tighten his grip at the top of the drivers' table.The Droitwich driver has endured fruitless races over the last decade of a half at the track but he bucked the trend with a victory in round 11 and two second finishes in rounds ten and 12.Victory sealed one of the Honda driver's best weekends of the BTCC so far as he increased his lead at the top of the table to 33 points over his nearest challenger and ignited his title defence. Thruxton was also a good venue for Neal's Halfords team after his team mate Gordon Shedden won round ten.Neal said: "If anyone told me what results I was going to have over breakfast I'd have called them a liar. Sunday was not just awesome for me but Gordon (Shedden) and everyone who works for the team."You need a bit of luck and I got some on Sunday, but that's taking nothing away for the team who got our cars working perfectly on what is a very difficult circuit. Thruxton's never really been kind to me but now I love it!"Neal went into the championship's latest round handicapped by success ballast after success at Oulton Park at the start of May. Despite the extra weight he was still amongst the pace-setters, as he qualified for round ten in fourth place, behind Shedden in pole-position.The champion was able to race to take advantage of title rival Jason Plato's retirement because of a punctured tyre and finish second. Starting second on the grid Neal raced into a lead he never relinquished in round 11 to win his first ever race at Thruxton in his 15th year of trying. To confirm Honda's dominance of the weekend Shedden was less than a second behind the reigning champion.In contrast Neal's rival Plato was forced to retire from a race for the second time after his Seat Leon's suspension was damaged in a high speed collision.Neal once again had to use all his driving skills in the third race as he negotiated extra success ballast to guide the Honda to second place behind Colin Turkington.Success at Thruxton means Neal has amassed 131 points, followed by Turkington (98) and Plato (86) in third. Neal and Shedden's success also saw Team Halfords strengthen their position at the top of the team championship. The reigning champion will be looking to keep his lead at the top of drivers championship at the Croft in North Yorkshire on Sunday, July 16.