Matt Neal clear favourite for title

Eight out of nine experts asked by BTCC.net have said that Matt Neal will be crowned BTCC Champion at Silverstone this coming Sunday. With just Silverstone’s final three rounds to go, Team Halfords Honda Integra driver Neal enjoys a seemingly comfortable 35-point championship lead.

Only SEAT’s Jason Plato and Team RAC’s Colin Turkington can stop him, but all bar one of our experts are backing Neal. This is what they said when asked who will be crowned the new 2006 Champion:

Ben Edwards, ITV BTCC race commentator
“Matt Neal because his team has developed the most resilient touring car ever seen and he’ll be fully supported by two excellent team mates. I can see team principal Steve Neal planning this final event like a piece of military strategy and losing will not be an option.”

Tim Harvey, ITV BTCC race commentator (and 1992 BTCC Champion)
“As unpredictable as BTCC racing is you only have to consider the following salient points to realise Matt Neal will be crowned champion at Silverstone: he has a 35-point lead; he has the best finishing record in the BTCC; the Integra will be the best car at Silverstone; he is lucky!”

Alan Gow, BTCC Series Director
“Matt Neal because, no matter how much ‘good luck’ his rivals say he has, he certainly doesn’t possess the amount of bad luck needed to lose the championship at this late stage.”

Jonathan Gill, Auto Express
“To use football parlance, there’s no substitute for points in the bag… so the title has got to be Matt’s. Despite his exit from the third race at Brands, Matt has a far better finishing record than Jason and that consistency is another good reason to back ‘Big Matt’. After all, he only needs to finish in front of Jason in one of the three races to retain the crown.”

Edd Straw, Autosport
“If anyone can overturn such a mass deficit, it’s Jason Plato, but the Matt Neal/Honda Integra combination is seemingly bomb-proof anywhere outside of Kent, so by the end of Sunday he’ll surely be a double champion. You can bet it’ll be harder work than the 35-point gap suggests, though.”

Matt James, Motorsport News (and dissenter)
“Colin Turkington – a superb driver who not only drives the car well, but stays out of trouble. That will be how he wins. The others will pile into each other and take their eye of the MG ball. Colin will win all the races, get pole, lead laps and set the fastest lap. The others will be in the gravel…”

Ian Titchmarsh, BTCC race day commentator
“Jason will provide the fireworks, Matt will win the Championship, probably before the final race. Matt’s consistency and ability to survive incidents coupled with the speed and reliability of the Integra make him unbeatable.”

Alan Hyde BTCC race day commentator
“Matt Neal. The cars run from the same place that Chris Hodgetts’ cars ran from when he was the last driver to secure back to back BTCC championships. The gods have smiled on Matt Neal at times this year, and if ever there was a lucky talisman ahead of Silverstone…”

Jakob Ebrey, official BTCC photographer
“Matt Neal will probably become the BTCC Champion this year. His mix of speed, reliability and consistency has proved the key to the title yet again. But this is the BTCC and anything can happen.”