British Touring Car ‘miracle man’ Andy Neate has been ridiculed in an astonishing attack by a rival racer with whom he collided at Silverstone over the weekend.
Vale man Neate returned to the sport in 2010 after 18 months out following a horror crash in which he broke his neck and sustained multiple injuries including two decompressed lungs.
He was in a coma for a fortnight and hospitalised for two months. After that, he was unable to walk for another nine weeks. But, amazingly he returned to the sport.
His bravery has not protected him from criticism, though. After being involved in a collision with rival Eurotech Racing’s Andrew Jordan at the home of British motorsport, Neate was on the end of a severe tongue lashing afterwards.
“I got Andy Neated, as many of the people down the grid have,” Jordan told the media after the race.
Jordan lost ground in the independents’ battle after a second lap collision with MG Momentum racer Neate which put him out of the race.
He had qualified in 11th place ahead of Neate’s MG, but the two came together on lap two, which left Jordan’s Honda stranded in the gravel and Neate at the back of the pack.
Jordan said: “It’s what you come to expect from him, but today was just about driving around for us and getting points and he still screws it for us.
“You get put towards people as bad as Andy Neate and accidents happen like that. It’s all about trying to keep your nose clean, which is exactly what we wanted to do.”
Neate was hit with a £500 fine by the stewards and a points endorsement on his racing licence for the contact but insisted his car had a puncture.
Defending himself from a barrage of criticism on Twitter, Neate said: “I was crawling in first gear that I had a issue with the car.
“It had a puncture and I couldn’t steer.”
