Neal at Mondello Park
CHAMPION NEAL"NOT LOOKING FORWARD" TO MONDELLO
PARK
Reigning Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Champion Matt Neal
is playing down his chances of winning at Mondello Park on
Sunday (23 April).
Neal's Team Halfords Honda crashed out of the last round
in a clash with Team RAC MG driver Robert Collard and he arrives
at Mondello fearing rival SEAT could sweep to three more wins.
SEAT driver James Thompson won twice at Brands Hatch two
weeks ago to lead the standings, and team-mate Jason Plato
backed him up with victory in race three.
Neal said: "I've never had much good luck at Mondello.
I like the circuit, but I'm not looking forward to it.
"I think we'll be in quite good shape, but I'm not looking
for race wins. It'll be a case of picking up as many points
as I can. We might luck a race win, but it's going to be very
difficult against the SEATs."
Neal, who won his first BTCC crown last year, currently lies
fifth in the standings, 18 points adrift of Thompson. Even
though former double Champion Thompson is only down to contest
six of the BTCC's ten meetings for SEAT - his World Touring
Car Championship programme takes precedence - Neal still regards
him as a title threat in the UK.
"SEAT is leaving nothing to chance," adds Neal.
"Behind the scenes, it is going full steam ahead with
the engine, the aerodynamics, the driver line-up, everything.
"I'm not discounting James for a second. Jason is meant
to be there to win it, but if he has a bad run I wouldn't
put it past the bosses at SEAT to pull James from the WTCC
and put him in the BTCC as their best bet. I'd definitely
include him as a rival for the title."
Neal and the rest of the BTCC field will be in race action
three times at Mondello this coming Sunday. In addition, there
will be another four races from prestige manufacturers BMW
and Porsche, with their hotly-contested Formula BMW UK and
Porsche Carrera Cup GB championships, plus the latest rounds
of Ireland's very own Formula Sheane and Dunlop Supercars
series.
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