Neal awaits civic reception

Defending champion Matt Neal believes new rules in the British Touring Car Championship have left the title race wide open in 2007.

Neal successfully defended his crown last year and has been joined by Gordon Shedden at Team Halfords for this season.

With the Honda Civics being prepared by Team Dynamics, Neal believes he has a good chance of making it three in a row.

However, he also thinks the new Super 2000 regulations, which bring British Touring Cars into line with the production-based regulations of World Touring Cars, have narrowed the advantage enjoyed by the top teams.

Neal admitted: “It’s a brand new sheet of paper – the whole concept is new, Super 2000 regulations, everything – and every time we run the car there are niggly little things that need sorting.

“But we’ve done a lot of positive work and put some good miles on the car.”

Neal will miss the Honda Integra which took him to two titles but understands the need to move on from a car which conformed to the old British Touring Cars specifications and finds it easier to get into the Civic.

The 6ft 6ins Droitwich-based driver said: “There are areas where we simply can’t do some things that we could do with the Integra.

“We’re learning how to skin a cat a different way. But I can feel that it’s there in the package; we’ve just to get it out.

“We’re not kidding ourselves that we’re going to be right at the sharp end from the word ’go’ at Brands. We’ve got to be realistic. It’s going to be about getting as many points as we can.

“Certainly, I’ve got more space in there than the Integra so that’s not a concern. We just need a big iron to smooth out all the wrinkles.”

A field of 27 drivers, the biggest in the championship for several years, sees SEAT set to add a third driver to join Jason Plato and former McLaren Formula One tester Darren Turner.

The Team RAC BMW outfit has Colin Turkington paired with newcomer Tom Onslow-Cole, with the VX Racing Vauxhall Astras being driven by Fabrizio Giovanardi and Tom Chilton.

The championship welcomes its first all-Turkish entry with Erkut Kizilirmak in the Arkas Racing Vauxhall Astra.

The move towards more environmentally friendly racing sees two teams looking to alternative fuels to power their race cars.

The Kartworld Racing MGs of Jason Hughes and Fiona Leggate burn bio-ethanol fuel and Rick Kerry’s Team AFM Racing BMW is powered by diesel.