Halfords Yuasa Racing’s Matt Neal is hoping to give the rear-wheel drive cars a ‘run for their money’ as the British Touring Car Championship heads to Croft this weekend for the 20th consecutive year.
Neal, who is currently fifth overall in the drivers’ championship standings, has raced in all bar one round of the BTCC held at Croft since it returned to the calendar for the 1997 season.
The circuit will this year mark 20 years since that revival meeting, held after the circuit was rejuvenated, and Neal admits that he is looking forward to returning to the circuit.
“I had the pleasure two decades ago of participating in Croft’s BTCC resurgence,” said Neal. “It’s been pretty much 20 years on the bounce for me since then, and I always look forward to going back.
“The fans can get really close to the action and smell the burning rubber and engine oil, while for drivers, you’ve got the technical section and the proper high-speed stuff through the Esses and Barcroft, which isn’t for the faint-hearted – you’ve really got to hold on! In that respect, you need a good all-round car, which the Civic Type R unquestionably is.”
Rear-wheel drive entries have won nine of the last 12 races at the North Yorkshire circuit, with the track tending to favour the cars.
Despite the form book favouring the BMW and Subaru entries, Neal himself has previously enjoyed good form at the circuit, albeit not in recent seasons.
The three-time champion last won in 2013, his sixth at the venue, but since then Neal has scored just four top ten finishes out of nine races at Croft.
“Traction out of the hairpin will undoubtedly help the rear wheel-drives, but I’m hopeful we can give them a good run for their money.”