Matt Neal and an emotional Mike Jordan shared the victories in three Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship rounds at the Mondello Park circuit in Ireland.

Two wins and then a third have catapulted reigning champion Neal from fifth into the lead of the drivers' standings, following a heavy crash in Brands Hatch's opening meeting of 2006 two weeks ago.

Newcomer Jordan and his Team Eurotech Racing with John Guest squad were left to celebrate their first BTCC race victory in only their second race meeting in the BTCC.

Team Halfords Honda Integra driver Neal leaves Mondello with a two-point lead over fellow independent squad Team RAC's Colin Turkington. SEAT's James Thompson, who led the standings prior to Ireland but crashed out of Sunday's third race has fallen to third, just ahead of his Oxford-based team-mate Jason Plato.

Neal said: "It's been an amazing weekend. My car was wrecked at Brands Hatch and my team have done a fantastic job to rebuild it to such a high standard. I've got thank them for that."

But despite three strong performances, Neal remained cautious as the BTCC prepares to head for its next three rounds at Oulton Park, Cheshire, on Sunday, May 14.

Neal said: "As championship leader, I'll have maximum success ballast on my car at Oulton, although it's a circuit I enjoy and I've been the heaviest there before and still won.

"But the championship is so close and there are so many competitive cars on the grid. Turkington is obviously having a great run, but I still consider Plato as the big title threat. I know how quickly things change. Remember, I was fifth coming to Ireland..."

SEAT and SEAT Sport UK have maintained their respective leads in the Manufacturers' and Teams' standings. Turkington and Team RAC remain top of the Independents Trophy's Drivers' and Teams championships.