Honda drivers Matt Neal and Dan Cammish head to the next rounds of the British Touring Car Championship at Oulton Park in optimistic mood, knowing that their Halfords Yuasa Racing team has enjoyed much success at the Cheshire circuit in previous years.
The two drivers took the Honda Civic Type R race cars to a solid points haul in the most recent rounds at Croft, despite the North Yorkshire circuit being more suited to the rear-wheel-drive cars of the Honda squad’s closest rivals.
Just five points separate the two manufacturers heading to Oulton, while Halfords Yuasa Racing leads the Teams championship and both Neal and Cammish remain in strong positions in the drivers’ points chase. Dan in particular will be in a confident frame of mind after making his third podium appearance of the season at Croft.
In contrast to Croft, Oulton Park is considered much more friendly to front-wheel-drive cars such as the Civic Type R, and the track holds many happy memories for Honda. Seven race wins have topped a host of podium finishes at the track over the past 10 seasons, including one memorable weekend in 2012 when the team locked out the top of the podium in all three races. They will be looking to bring more victories away from their latest visit on 30th June.
Matt Neal – Halfords Yuasa Racing driver and Team Dynamics Director
Croft was another weekend of what could have been for us! The Honda Civic Type R was hooked up from free practice and both Dan and I should have been at the sharp end had it not been for the multiple red flags! But I was happy with my race pace and particularly some of my overtakes and to come away with a decent points haul was great as it’s not a circuit we traditionally go well at.
I’m looking forward to Oulton, I really like the track, it’s a fast flowing, old-school style circuit that is very unforgiving! I’ve personally done well there over the years with 11 podiums including four wins in the last 10 seasons, so I’m hoping I can add to that tally.
Dan Cammish – Halfords Yuasa Racing driver
I was pleased with another solid performance at Croft and ending up on the podium was an added bonus, but I felt had qualifying gone to plan we would have been pushing for podiums all weekend long. I managed to stay out of trouble, in the main, and come away with some good points for both myself and the team.
I’m looking forward to Oulton as it’s a track that suits my driving style, particularly in the high-speed, technical elements of the circuit. Qualifying is again going to be critical, so I’ll be working closely with Matt to extract the most we can from the car and hopefully continue to progress up the leader board.
