Honda pair out to impress as BTCC heads north

Honda pair Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden insist they are ready to take the fight to the rear wheel drive cars when the BTCC heads for Croft this weekend for the fifth round of the season.

Neal makes the trip to the North East sitting second in the championship standings, just a single point behind Sam Tordoff, having taken a second win of the season in race three at Oulton Park two weeks ago.

With no fewer than half a dozen Croft wins to his name, Neal will be keen to impress again this time around, with the three-time champion insisting the Team Dynamics-run outfit was in good shape on the back of a recent test at Rockingham.

“Croft is a circuit I’ve always enjoyed; I love how close the fans get to the action there – they can really smell the burning brakes and rubber, which makes for a fantastic spectator experience,” he said. “You need a good all-round package underneath you at Croft –traction in the slow-speed sections, agility through the tight-and-twisty parts and stability for the fast corners out the back, which call for a lot of commitment.

“They are all areas in which the Civic Type R scores highly, and we had a positive and productive test at Rockingham earlier this week which enabled us to get a solid handle on the car. If you look at how competitive it is in the standings, every point is critical this year – all it takes is one hiccough to send you tumbling down the order – so it’s essential that we stay focussed and continue consistently racking up the results.”

Team-mate – and defending champion – Shedden finds himself playing catch-up in the points after his race three puncture at Oulton Park but said he too was feeling confident about his chances during the final meeting prior to the summer break.

“Historically, we’ve gone pretty well around Croft; like Oulton, it’s a circuit that tends to favour rear wheel-drive cars, but we’ve generally led the way amongst the front wheel-drive brigade,” he said. “There was some great racing there last year, and I’m sure we can expect more of the same again. It’s a fun circuit with a real mix of corners, which makes perfecting the car’s set-up quite a challenge – but one that I relish.

“Given how fiercely-disputed the BTCC is right now, every weekend is pivotal – it’s incredible to think we’ve already had nine different winners from the first 12 races! With that in mind, we have to be targeting three strong points finishes, which we would have had at Oulton but for the late puncture in race three. The cards haven’t particularly fallen my way in that respect recently, so hopefully we can turn that trend around.”