Halfords Yuasa Racing Civic Type R drivers Shedden and Neal are both in line to take the title in the final 3 rounds at Brands hatch.

• Honda chasing three BTCC crowns as season finale speeds into view
• Gordon Shedden and Matt Neal firmly in the hunt for Drivers’ honours
• Halfords Yuasa Racing Civic Type R tipped to shine at Brands Hatch

Halfords Yuasa Racing duo Gordon Shedden and Matt Neal are ready to ‘throw caution to the wind’ in the 2016 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season finale at Brands Hatch next weekend (1/2 October), as an unprecedented eight drivers get set to go wheel-to-wheel for the most coveted crown in UK motor sport.

Unpredictability has always been one of the BTCC’s hallmarks, and that has never been more the case than this year, with a record number of different race-winners and eight competitors still in contention to lift the laurels heading into the last three outings.

Shedden and Neal sit respectively second and third in the Drivers’ standings, 11 and 13 points adrift of championship leader Sam Tordoff, with the initiative having ebbed-and-flowed throughout an enthralling campaign.

Brands Hatch’s legendary GP circuit – home to Formula 1’s British Grand Prix on 12 occasions between 1964 and 1986 – has been a happy hunting ground for Honda in seasons past, with Shedden clinching his second BTCC title there in dramatic style last year.

Both the Scot and evergreen team-mate Neal – who passed the 600 start mark in Britain’s premier motor sport series at Silverstone last weekend – are palpably fired-up for the fight, with Honda and Halfords Yuasa Racing similarly in the thick of the battle for Manufacturers’ and Teams’ honours.

Gordon Shedden:

“Brands Hatch GP is an awesome venue for a title showdown. I’ve had some great results there in the past, and hopefully the positive memories of last year will spur me on. It’s going to be an interesting weekend, that’s for sure. Usually when you get to this stage of proceedings, you’d realistically say there are two or three drivers who could be champion but this year there are twice as many – at least! 

That means nobody can afford to sit back and just collect points – everybody has to be pushing flat-out, and it’s going to require an absolutely stellar weekend to get the job done. It could even come down to the luck of the reversed grid draw for race three... 

What seems certain is that it will go all the way to the last race – and perhaps even the last lap of the last race! I remember back in 2012 when I first went into a BTCC title-decider, no matter how much you say you’re feeling chilled and relaxed and have it all under control, the pressure of the situation still has an effect and you instinctively tighten up a bit so hopefully the experience Matt and I have will play in our favour and we also know we will support each other should the need arise. 

Ultimately – and regardless of personal aspirations – the goal is to get a Civic Type R over the finish line first.”

Matt Neal:

“It would have been crazy to think back at the start of the year that eight drivers would be going to Brands Hatch still in with a shout of the title. That proves how ultra-competitive and incredibly close the BTCC is at the moment – you simply can’t afford to have a bad weekend, especially now we’ve got to the business end of the season. 

We’ve had a bit of ill-fortune befall us at certain key stages that has cost us ground, but both of us go to Brands well in the hunt and prepared to throw caution to the wind and as a team, I don’t think anybody in the paddock works together better than ‘Flash’ and I do. 

Sam [Tordoff] seems to have been looking over his shoulder a bit lately, but in truth the pressure will be on all of us. Anything can happen from unpredictable weather to end-of-term madness, and just one slip-up could spell the end of your championship bid. 

The GP layout should suit the Civic Type R with its excellent high-speed corner stability – it’s old-school, unspoilt by health and safety warriors and calls for a lot of commitment – but then equally, it will probably suit the other cars too, so it’ll definitely be game on. May the best man win!”

Drivers’ Standings

1. Sam Tordoff 278 points

2. Gordon Shedden 267 points

3. Matt Neal 265 points

4. Rob Collard 261 points

5. Mat Jackson 257 points

6. Andrew Jordan 247 points

Manufacturers’ Standings

1. West Surrey Racing 722 points

2. Honda / Team Dynamics 688 points

3. Subaru / Team BMR 629 points

4. MG / Triple Eight 507 points

Teams’ Standings

1. Team JCT600 with GardX 529 points

2. Halfords Yuasa Racing 517 points

3. Motorbase Performance 496 points

4. Silverline Subaru BMR Racing 451 points

5. MG Racing RCIB Insurance 288 points

6. Speedworks Motorsport 203 points

The Final rounds of the season for the Ginetta Juniors plus an overview.

With the 2014 season coming to a close, with the final two races at the full GP track at Brands Hatch, the Iconic layout brings both new challenges, and some better racing, for the penultimate round of the Ginetta Juniors, the honours for pole go, James Kellett' team mate at HHC Motorsport, Lando Norris, and with over leader of the standings, Jack Mitchell further back in sixth place, it is looking like a good haul of points for James and Lando, and the team.

With Lando on pole and Jamie Caroline second, it leaves James to take third position at the start of the start of the race, and hopefully a good start, and favourable overtaking will move him forward. And as the flag fell at the end of race one, Jamie Caroline was the winner, James pulled one space forward to take a well deserved second, Lando dropped right back to ninth, with Jack Mitchell moving up to fourth and Jack Rawles from fifth to third, So with just one race left to the season, it is obvious that Jack Mitchell has taken the crown for Driver Championship, and unless something drastic happens in the final race, its almost certain the JHR Motorsports will take the Team trophy.

RACE TWO - Final Race of The Year

With the track still damp on the inside, and around the GP track, race two should be an interesting one, With Lando Norris, Jamie Caroline and James K taking the first three spots, the lights go green, and Caroline goes into the lead with JK third,Jack Mitchell span before druids,  it shoved him straight to the back, and with this the only car not to get around the first lap. Flasherman Finnerman has a flappy bonnet and will come in at the end of lap one.

James Kellet in second is fighting to get past Caroline, with out much success at the present , druids has not more incidents on lap two, with James squirrelling around trying to get past, and trying to avoid the damp patches, the top four are all within a sniff of each other, Zelos, has gotten on the back of JK and as they come around to conclude the second lap,  they are all as close as ever.Zelos goes off track at the exit of druids and Lando has a late lunge on Kellett to take second,  but Caroline has a small lead.

lap three comes to an end with the racing further back as hard and as aggressive as at the front, with a number of these y0oungsters confirmed to be back next year, it is bound to be a great season, but back to the front, the leading four are pulling away, and James has had a spin at Surtee's it has put him way back, with Caroline having a smaller gap and Zelos trailing back in third, Lando is determined to have a go on lap five as they head to Druids he takes the place and Caroline drops back, but Zelos has caught them back, and Caroline goes back into the lead, and then they are right beside each other at 110mph, and Caroline takes the lead.

the racing is amazing, these guys are not afraid of fighting, Caroline loses first to Lando again, and the top three are all now right back together,  as they start lap 6 of 8, there is now a small lead by Lando with Jamie Caroline second and Zelos third, the three leaders are now coming around to complete the sixth lap, with the trio still holding position.

The fighting further back is great, they are all clawing for each place,, Senna Procter Alex Sedgewick both niggling each other for position and Chadwick loses two positions to Senna and A,ex, before taking one back, Jack Rawles and Ryan Hadfield are both fighting each other, not giving an inch, and right on the bumper, this is stunning racing, the final lap has now started with the leading three still in procession, Caroline takes the fastest lap, Lando Norris has a gap on Caroline with Dan Zelos further back, Jamie Chadwick goes off into the gravel, and with only a couple of corners to go, they are still trying to get position.

These kids are not afraid to give it all, and around the final corner Lando Norris punches the air with delight as he takes the final race win of the season, with Jamie Caroline taking second and trailing back Zelos takes third, another brilliant race, from all of the Juniors, and if next year is half as good as this years, it will be thee championship to watch, it was such a shame that JK was unable to finish the last race of the season with a win or big points.

However, it is not as cut and dried as that, when you look at the points awarded for the season as a whole, it is clear that without the lower point finishes, of which there were 6 (16 points awarded or less) for James Kellett, then the race for the title may well have been a lot closer, or even awarded to James, as Jack on had two low point finishes (16 points or less), so, it could well have been a different story albeit for those finishes.

But that's racing, you have to race hard from day one, to the final flag of the season, get ever single point that's going, because at the end of the day, that one point may mean the difference between winning and coming in second, but again, this class, is so full of winners, when most kids are at home playing on play stations, or smoking behind the bike sheds, amongst other things, these guys are out there, racing cars in a professional championship, proving that although they are not fully fledged vote allowing adults, they are just as good as the BTCC drivers, of which this is a support race.

They have shown so much determination, frustration and anger, so many emotions for these young people, emotions that the general public could never imagine, and they still have so much more to learn, so much more to give back, and so many more years of professional driving, each and every single one of the young adults have parents, siblings, family and friends that are so proud of what they have achieved at such a young age, and for most this is just that start, we look forward to seeing them all develop and go on to bigger, better and more focused race series, whether that be the bigger Ginetta's, British Touring Car Championship, One Make Series, Clio Cup, or even onto the World Touring Cars, or even F1, whatever these guys choose as a future career, I am sure that they will all be successful.

Congratulations to all the Drivers, you have provided some of the best racing of the year, your attitudes and determination not to give up, has provided some stunning over taking movements, great wheel to wheel action and some rather funny body destruction moments.

I hope to be at some of the BTCC events next year, I have missed them all this year, which is a real shame, its the first time in years when i have not been to at least one race.

**PHOTOGRAPHY**

John Beardon provides some stunning pictures from the Ginetta Juniors, and the above shot just goes to show how talented this photographer is.