Honda Yuasa BTCC has a poor weekend with NO Wins or podiums during the three races.

• Halfords Yuasa Racing unrewarded for valiant Yorkshire effort
• Matt Neal keeps title tilt on-track with trio of points finishes
• Gordon Shedden’s wet-weather tyre gamble fails to pay off

Halfords Yuasa Racing endured a difficult weekend as the 2016 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) travelled north-east to Croft, with both Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden fighting hard for scant reward.

 

Renowned as a circuit that favours rear wheel-drive machinery, Croft was always going to represent a challenge for the front wheel-drive Honda Civic Type R, but even allowing for that, Neal and Shedden were disappointed to line up 15^th and 17^th on the 32-strong grid for the opening encounter.

 

Neal moved through the field in race one to take the chequered flag 12^th, before evincing a solid turn-of-speed in race two as he homed in on the multi-car scrap over fifth until his tyres faded in the closing stages, leaving him tenth. The three-time champion concluded his weekend with an 11^th-place finish in a rain-plagued finale to leave Croft sitting third in the Drivers’ table, still firmly in the title fight.

 

Shedden lapped at a similar pace in races one and two as he tallied points-paying finishes in 15^th and 13^th – the former his 300^th BTCC start – before taking a gamble on slick rubber in race three. It was an audacious strategy that unfortunately didn’t pay off and the Scot was ultimately forced to pit to change over to wets, seeing him slip to ninth in the Drivers’ standings as Honda and Halfords Yuasa Racing maintained second spot in the Manufacturers’ and Teams’ classifications.

 

Matt Neal:

“It’s been a tough weekend and one I won’t be sorry to see the back of! We knew the rear wheel-drive cars would have an advantage at Croft, but we thought we would still be somewhere in or around the top six and that obviously wasn’t the case. In the circumstances, we got pretty much the maximum we could out of the car. I drove my heart out and race two was quite enjoyable; because we were struggling for straight-line speed, I had to work the tyres quite hard and that halted our progress in the closing stages. On the positive side, both cars came back in one piece when quite a few didn’t and we can now go away and regroup over the summer break. Believe me, we won’t be rolling over by any means!”

 

Gordon Shedden:

“We’ve not been on the pace all weekend which was certainly a surprise, because the Civic Type R is a very good package and was strong round here last year. Yes, Croft is traditionally a rear wheel-drive circuit, but other front wheel-drive cars did ok so I don’t subscribe to that excuse. In race three, knowing we couldn’t compete on outright pace, we decided to roll the dice because from where we were starting, we had nothing to lose. The bottom line is we weren’t good enough and there are clearly some elements missing that we need to put our finger on, but we have a decent break now that we will use to reassess, figure everything out and come up with an action plan for the second half of the season.”

The Halfords Yuasa Racing Honda Civic's are looking like they can do some serious damage to the competition.

• Halfords Yuasa Racing duo set sights on northern success
• Matt Neal confident Civic Type R can shine in Yorkshire
• Gordon Shedden keen to celebrate on landmark weekend

Halfords Yuasa Racing team-mates Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden are heading to Croft for the next outing on the 2016 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship calendar with a strong haul of points firmly on their hit list.

Having claimed a commanding victory in the most recent race at Oulton Park – his second of the season behind the wheel of the potent Honda Civic Type R – Neal travels north-east just a single point adrift of the top of the Drivers’ classification. The three-time champion boasts a stellar record at Croft, with six successes to his name.

Shedden, meanwhile, celebrated his 100^th BTCC podium in North Yorkshire last year during the course of an impressively consistent weekend, and the Scot is primed to make his milestone 300^th start in the series 12 months on.

The defending title-holder currently sits fourth in the Drivers’ chase following a puncture in the final race at Oulton that robbed him of the runner-up spoils, with Halfords Yuasa Racing only one point shy of the lead in the Teams’ classification and Honda right in the fight for Manufacturers’ glory.

Matt Neal:

“Croft is a circuit I’ve always enjoyed; I love how close the fans get to the action there – they can really smell the burning brakes and rubber, which makes for a fantastic spectator experience. You need a good all-round package underneath you at Croft –traction in the slow-speed sections, agility through the tight-and-twisty parts and stability for the fast corners out the back, which call for a lot of commitment. They are all areas in which the Civic Type R scores highly, and we had a positive and productive test at Rockingham earlier this week which enabled us to get a solid handle on the car. If you look at how competitive it is in the standings, every point is critical this year – all it takes is one hiccough to send you tumbling down the order – so it’s essential that we stay focussed and continue consistently racking up the results.”

Gordon Shedden:

“Historically, we’ve gone pretty well around Croft; like Oulton, it’s a circuit that tends to favour rear wheel-drive cars, but we’ve generally led the way amongst the front wheel-drive brigade. There was some great racing there last year, and I’m sure we can expect more of the same again. It’s a fun circuit with a real mix of corners, which makes perfecting the car’s set-up quite a challenge – but one that I relish. Given how fiercely-disputed the BTCC is right now, every weekend is pivotal – it’s incredible to think we’ve already had nine different winners from the first 12 races! With that in mind, we have to be targeting three strong points finishes, which we would have had at Oulton but for the late puncture in race three. The cards haven’t particularly fallen my way in that respect recently, so hopefully we can turn that trend around.”