to Mondello Park  

Reigning Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Champion Matt Neal is playing down his chances of winning at Mondello Park on Sunday (23 April).

Neal's Team Halfords Honda crashed out of the last round in a clash with Team RAC MG driver Robert Collard and he arrives at Mondello fearing rival SEAT could sweep to three more wins.

SEAT driver James Thompson won twice at Brands Hatch two weeks ago to lead the standings, and team-mate Jason Plato backed him up with victory in race three.

Neal said: "I've never had much good luck at Mondello. I like the circuit, but I'm not looking forward to it.

"I think we'll be in quite good shape, but I'm not looking for race wins. It'll be a case of picking up as many points as I can. We might luck a race win, but it's going to be very difficult against the SEATs."

Neal, who won his first BTCC crown last year, currently lies fifth in the standings, 18 points adrift of Thompson. Even though former double Champion Thompson is only down to contest six of the BTCC's ten meetings for SEAT - his World Touring Car Championship programme takes precedence - Neal still regards him as a title threat in the UK.

"SEAT is leaving nothing to chance," adds Neal. "Behind the scenes, it is going full steam ahead with the engine, the aerodynamics, the driver line-up, everything.

"I'm not discounting James for a second. Jason is meant to be there to win it, but if he has a bad run I wouldn't put it past the bosses at SEAT to pull James from the WTCC and put him in the BTCC as their best bet. I'd definitely include him as a rival for the title."

Neal and the rest of the BTCC field will be in race action three times at Mondello this coming Sunday. In addition, there will be another four races from prestige manufacturers BMW and Porsche, with their hotly-contested Formula BMW UK and Porsche Carrera Cup GB championships, plus the latest rounds of Ireland's very own Formula Sheane and Dunlop Supercars series.