Photo: btcc.net

Neal aiming for Dynamics but no deal yet

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Matt Neal has admitted he aims to race for Team Dynamics in 2010, but the deal is not done yet. The double BTCC champion has confirmed during a charity karting event at Autosport International that currently nothing is signed and that everything is still “up in the air” at the moment.

Speaking to Radio Le Mans during David Brabham’s event in aid of Malaria No More UK, Neal said, in response to a question about driving the Honda Civic this season, “That’s the target at the minute. But it is all up in the air, so it’s a case of slotting all the blocks into place.”

The comments come on the same day that Jason Plato confirmed on the Dunlop stand at the Autosport Show that he had not yet done a deal for the coming season, before elaborating on the Autosport stage in the afternoon that he was still hunting for the budget to compete in the BTCC once more.

“If I can pull together a deal to make it happen, I’d like to think chances of staying where I am now are very high”, said Plato, “Nevertheless, the cold hard facts are that the right numbers need to be in right boxes.

“I love to go racing, but I’ve got bills to pay the same as anyone else. The team has to operate on a proper budget.”

With Colin Turkington telling TouringCarTimes on Thursday that “nothing was decided at the moment” and he was keeping his options open for the coming season, it means there are currently no former BTCC champions committed to the series in 2010. This though appears to be a situation that, in all likelihood, will change swiftly over the coming weeks.

Neal was one of a number of BTCC drivers who took part in the celebrity karting race at the Autosport International show on Friday afternoon. Partnering Paul O’Neill, Tom Onslow-Cole, Dean Stoneman and a member of the public, Neal’s team, Sweet Enough, came home 24th out of 26 teams.

Gordon Shedden was the top touring car finisher, coming third with The Mad Ferrets, who consisted of former BTCC driver Tim Sudgen, Alex Mortimer, Nigel Moore and a lucky paying guest.

Paul Di Resta, Fiona Leggate, Matt Hamilton, Andrew Jordan, Rob Collard, Jonathan Adam and Andy Priaulx all represented the world of touring cars, in a race won by The Loose Cannons, featuring several young Brits, Duncan Tappy, Rikki Christodoulou, Will Stevens, Paul Rees and their civilian driver.