“Nothing is impossible” for Matt Neal

Matt Neal says he will look to the example set by team-mate Gordon Shedden as he seeks to improve his BTCC title chances this weekend at Oulton Park.

Neal moved up to seventh in the standings at Thruxton after securing his 60th career victory; a win that moved him into joint second alongside Andy Rouse on the all-time winners list.

Despite that, Neal still sits 58 points behind current title leader Tom Ingram after nine races, but pointed at the way in which Shedden fought back from a tough start last season as a sign that anything could still happen as the campaign wears on.

“It’s true that the hairpins will suit the rear wheel-drive cars more than front wheel-drive [this weekend], but I wouldn’t describe it as one of their ultra-competitive circuits,” he said. “We’ve had some good results there with the Civic Type R in the past and this year’s car is very strong, so I’m hopeful of being able to take the fight to them.

“Weight will definitely play more of a role than it did at Thruxton, so I really need to take advantage of the fact that I’m still relatively light in qualifying and race one and get in the mix. Qualifying will be critical as it’s not easy to overtake at Oulton. I’ve got to be aiming for the front two rows of the grid and then targeting the podium – and if I can come away with another win, that would be perfect.

“I’m a little way behind in the championship at the moment and I’m obviously not going to make that deficit up in just one weekend but it’s still very early days and as I keep saying, ‘Flash’ was down in ninth position at the halfway stage last year and came back to win the title, so nothing is impossible.”