Neal gets trophy & confirms Civic

Matt Neal attended a star-studded awards ceremony at the exclusive Royal Automobile Club on London’s Pall Mall last Friday night to receive his 2006 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Champion’s trophy from Damon Hill, the last British driver to win the Formula 1 world title.

Neal was present at the Motor Sports Association’s Night of Champions event – attended by every British championship winner from 2006 – where he received the MSA’s own BTCC trophy.

Neal, aged 40, won the BTCC crown for the second year in a row in 2006 for his father Steve’s team, Team Dynamics, and his name now sits on the MSA trophy alongside every champion dating back to 1958, including motor racing legends such as Jim Clark, Andy Rouse and John Cleland.

After receiving his award from 1996 F1 champion Hill, Matt told the audience: “I’d driven for my father’s team throughout the Nineties but then moved on to a few different teams until coming back to Dynamics in 2004. To finally win the BTCC title in 2005 and then do it again in 2006 with my dad has been something really special.

“2007 is going to be a major challenge – we have decided to develop a new car, the latest Honda Civic, and with new rules to learn about making it three in a row is going to be extremely tough.”