Honda confident of strong Donington show

Honda pair Matt Neal and Dan Cammish say they feel confident of a strong weekend at Donington Park as the BTCC heads for the East Midlands circuit for the second round of the year.

Neal in particular endured a trying start to the season at Brands Hatch and picked up just four points at the wheel of his all-new Civic Type-R to lie down in 22nd place in the early season standings.

The triple champion however said he was optimistic that the new car will be well suited to the Donington circuit and expressed confidence that running ballast free in qualifying and the opening race would work to his advantage.

“We learned a bit more about the new Civic Type-R at Brands Hatch,” he said. “It’s quite a different beast to its predecessor and we still have more work to do to fully refine it, but I’m hopeful that with its strong engine and sleek silhouette, it will prove well-suited to Donington, especially through the high-speed stuff.

“The weekend will be the first time we run the hard-compound tyres this year, which requires you to change the way you drive slightly, so that will be an extra unknown element. We’ll have to keep an eye on how the weather unfolds as well – it was a bit of a lottery at Brands Hatch, and it could play a part again.

“Whilst I’d obviously rather have the points in the bag, the disappointment at Brands means I won’t be carrying any weight in qualifying or race one, so I need to make sure I take advantage of that and really capitalise on the situation. The aim is to come away with three solid points finishes.”

Cammish meanwhile will seek to try and build on a solid opening weekend where he showed strong pace in qualifying and picked up the Jack Sears Trophy lead despite also finding himself somewhat in the wars on race day.

“We brought it home in all three races and I certainly learnt a great deal along the way [at Brands Hatch],” he said. “Donington is a circuit I really enjoy and one where I have traditionally gone well. With its mixture of medium and high-speed corners and its fast, flowing nature, I also think it will play to our strengths.

“Hopefully, the conditions will be a bit kinder than they were at Brands so we can properly assess our race pace, and with another chance to shoot for pole position in qualifying, this time, I want to make it stick!”