Matt Neal can this Sunday 2 October finally be crowned Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Champion for the first time after 14 years of trying. And he admits that if he does lift the crown it will be "a childhood dream come true".
Neal will go into the final round of this year’s BTCC at Brands Hatch, Kent knowing he is just a handful of points away from winning the most important title in British motor racing.
For Droitwich-based Neal and team manager, his father Steve Neal, winning would be their biggest achievement since they first entered the BTCC in 1992. In 1999 they made national headlines when they scooped £250,000 for winning a race against the might of the mega-bucks manufacturer teams.
Now, though, they are at last on the verge of not just becoming champions but also the first independent team to defeat the manufacturer outfits for the first time since the late Will Hoy triumphed for the privately-funded VLR crew in 1991.
"If it happens it’ll be a childhood dream come true," says 38-year-old Neal. "I never even thought I’d get this far when I was a kid. I always wanted to race cars, but never thought I’d be in a position where I’ve got one hand on the BTCC champion’s trophy.
"People, even on the inside of the sport, don’t realise the sacrifices you have to make, so to do it with this team of people after all the rough times we’ve been through down the years would make it extra special.
"In the past, seeing my dad’s face when I get out of the car and the reaction of the people in the team has been a big part of the buzz. They’re all like family to me – achieving the title together would mean more to me than anything."
Neal, in his Team Halfords Honda Integra, currently holds a 30-point lead at the top of the table over Vauxhall’s Yvan Muller. Only a disaster at Brands Hatch on Sunday can surely deny 6ft 6in Neal, nicknamed ‘The People’s Champion’, a first BTCC title.
"Donington 1999, when I won the quarter of a million quid, stands out as the biggest weekend of my career so far but this will either equal or surpass it," adds Neal. "But I’m not thinking about it because anything can go wrong and I’m not even at Brands Hatch yet."
Neal’s big BTCC weekend will begin on Saturday morning with two practice sessions and then qualifying in the afternoon. The three races that will decide if he becomes champion or not will be held on Sunday and be shown during a live broadcast on the UK’s biggest commercial terrestrial television channel ITV1.
