Matt Neal has confirmed that he will support Halfords Yuasa Racing team-mate Gordon Shedden’s championship campaign in the final three rounds of the current British Touring Car Championship season.
Recent rounds have seen Neal fall further away from the championship fight, as he has slid from 41 points adrift at the mid-way stage of the season to 93 from the top following the most recent races at Knockhill in Scotland.
As a result, the three-time champion has committed to helping his team-mate and fellow three-time champion to retain the BTCC trophy in the final three events of the season.
“At this stage of the season, with my points deficit to the top of the table, I’ve got to be realistic,” said Neal. “That means turning my focus to the Teams’ and Manufacturers’ battles and helping ‘Flash’, because he is still well in the hunt.
“We have always worked very well together, so hopefully we can tickle the top six in qualifying at Rockingham and then move forward from there.”
Shedden believes that having the support of Neal for the final nine races of the year will make a crucial difference.
With two factory BMW drivers still in the mix, and potentially unwilling to cede points to each other, Shedden will be able to rely on support from a proven front-runner. Only Subaru racer Ash Sutton is likely to also be able to rely on support from his team-mates in the championship run-in.
“It’s the BTCC so anything can still happen,” added Shedden. “The title battle is likely now boiling down to four drivers and we need to start scoring some big points again after a difficult few weekends.
“Having Matt’s support will unquestionably help; playing the team game has always been one of our strengths as a pairing, so I’m sure we will be a formidable force working together.”