AFTER the adulation of victory at Brands Hatch a fortnight earlier, Matt Neal failed to recapture his winning form as he slipped to two seventh placed finishes.

Two Independent wins in the penultimate round of the Auto Trader British Touring Car Championship proved little reward for the Pershore-based Team Dynamics team's efforts at Oulton Park last weekend.

"That was the type of weekend you dread," a disappointed Neal reflected. "The best laid plans go west and you just cannot get the right pace and race positions.

"The team did a great job on Saturday in putting the car back together after Friday's mishap and we were looking good for qualifying."

However, Neal's hopes were dashed as the Nissan Primera failed to get the speed in the feature race session and a couple of tenth places on the grid did little to bring a smile to the "People's Champion".

"It's at times like this when you realise the difference between works cars and our own small private team," Neal said.

"They have lots of spare engines, we have just two and we really didn't want to swap the engine until Silverstone and see what we could do there."

The Sprint race saw Neal take advantage of Rickard Rydell's moment of madness at the start to gain some positions and he finished only just behind former championship leader Alan Menu.

There was more frustration in the Feature event as the safety car devalued a fine start and Neal had to settle for seventh across the line again.

"It wasn't our weekend really but we can't complain," said Neal. "All it's done is strengthen our resolve for Silverstone where to out on a high would be a great way to round off the season and the Super Touring era".

Neal will have no weight penalty for this weekend's night races and that will help him a lot on the fast Northamptonshire track as he bids to return to winning ways and repay even more his vast army of admirers.