Matt Neal is hoping to be able to stay out of trouble in this weekend’s British Touring Car Championship races at Knockhill, as he seeks to stay in the title race as the season heads to a climax.
Neal lost ground in each of the three races in the last event at Rockingham, and as such the Honda driver is now 44 points away from championship leader Colin Turkington.
But with Honda cars having been victorious in 13 previous BTCC races in Scotland (more than any other marque) and with Neal having claimed six of them, he is in an optimistic mood heading north of the border.
“It was a tough weekend in Rockingham but it just makes us more determined to bounce back for Knockhill and get back onto the podium,” said Neal.
“That weekend showed just how important qualifying is in a championship as competitive as this, so we will be focusing hard on ensuring we start on the right foot in Scotland and go from there.”
Neal last won at Knockhill in the second race in 2016, and he hopes to be fighting for an eighth win at the circuit.
“The racing is frenetic at Knockhill but as long as we stay out of trouble we have a great chance of a strong result.
“Honda has a brilliant record there for good reason and the Civic Type R (FK8) rides the kerbs very well so I am hopeful we will be right up there again.”