Honda Racing Team drivers Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden have expressed their frustrations about the rule changes for turbo-powered cars ahead of the Thruxton meeting this weekend. TOCA have recently announced that all cars running NGTC turbo engines will have their boost reduced by 0.1 bar from the highest level recorded in Donington Park qualifying.
The Honda team feel that this disadvantages them more than their rivals as they didn’t run their boost as high in Donington Park qualifying.
“The organisers have changed the rules to peg back our two-litre turbocharged engine, which seems to me like it is a rule that has singled us out to penalise us more than anyone else,” said Neal of the situation. “I just can’t understand it. It appears that we have been held back because we had been doing such good job so far this season, which isn’t fair.
“Thruxton is always tough on tyres and that means it is going to be a journey into the unknown. We are going there with one arm tied behind our back because of the rule changes and there is a lot of work to do on the set-up. It’s so hard to know what to predict from the three rounds but we know that the Civic has a great chassis, so that is going to help us.”
Gordon Shedden echoed his team-mates comments about the changes in regulations. Shedden has already suffered problems related to the turbo regulations this year – he was excluded from the Round 4 results due to overboosting his engine.
“I am confused about how they have come to this decision to peg back the turbo cars but we have just go to get on with our jobs and perform to our maximum,” said the 32-year-old Scot. “We are going to be handicapped because of this, but we will be giving it everything we have got.
“I love Thruxton because it’s a very fast circuit and you have to be brave but you also have to be clever in the way that you use the tyres and how you preserve the rubber. It means there is a lot to think about as a driver and it’s a challenge. We are going to be fighting an uphill battle now that the rules have been altered but there certainly will not be a lack of effort from the Honda Racing Team.”