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Neal may miss final of 2013 BTCC at Brands Hatch this weekend!

By MJP Media | 10 October 2013

Matt Neal will decide tomorrow (Friday, 11 October) if he is to contest the final three rounds of the 2013 season. In other news, Shaun Hollamby and Jake Hill return to the BTCC and Tom Barley makes his debut.

Matt Neal may miss the last three races of the year

The Honda Yuasa Racing star broke his finger in a martial arts training session ahead of the previous BTCC event at Silverstone. Neal competed in pain at the Northamptonshire circuit and underwent surgery following that weekend. While the operation was a success, the immediate effects have left the three-time champion in more pain than he was after the initial break. He saw the surgeon again today and then completed half a dozen laps of Donington Park in his Civic this afternoon, but reported much discomfort behind the wheel. Matt has said that he's likely to see the surgeon again tomorrow morning before making his way to Brands Hatch where a decision on his participation will be made.

AmDTuning.com team owner Shaun Hollamby will return for the final three rounds this weekend. He will drive the S2000 specification VW Golf raced by James Kaye in the first half of the year. It is the first time Hollamby has entered the BTCC fray since a one-off outing at Croft in 2011 and he is to give the VW Golf a final BTCC send-off at Brands Hatch. Having been at the wheel for its first appearance in the series back in April 2010, Hollamby is looking forward to bringing the car full circle and said: "I've had the chance to do a shakedown in the car ahead of the weekend and it's great to be able to get back behind the wheel one last time. This is the end of a four year journey with the Golf and it's kind of appropriate that we go full circle with me back behind the wheel on its final weekend. I've not been racing this season so will be a little rusty when practice gets underway, but I don't think it will take me long to get back up to speed and I'm really looking forward to it."

Shaun Hollamby will once again pilot the VW Golf at Brands Hatch

Andy Neate - team owner and driver for Team Club 44 - will miss the final rounds. Neate, who has raced the newly built NGTC Chevrolet Cruze since Snetterton, has contracted pneumonia and has been instructed by medical staff not to contest the final three races of the year. There will be no replacement driver in the car for this weekend and the team is now focussed on its development programme looking ahead to the 2014 season. Neate comments: "As a team we've been through a lot of disappointment, faced some huge technical and financial challenges and we have come out the other side together. Our sponsors have shown a rare loyalty in this business and I can only thank them for that and make a public apology that our season has ended without the shindig at Brands Hatch we hoped for."

Rising star Jake Hill will race at his home circuit in a Rob Austin Racing-prepared Audi A4, under the Exocet Racing banner. Team principal Rob Austin will line up on the grid in his regular WIX Racing Audi with Hill joining the squad in its second A4 with a striking new Exocet livery. Hill, aged 19, is forging a reputation as one of Britain's emerging tin-top talents having scored a class win on his BTCC debut in the Jack Sears Trophy earlier this year.

Jake Hill scored a Jack Sears Trophy class win at Croft earlier in the year

Tom Barley will make his Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship debut at Brands Hatch as he takes over the reins of an RCIB Insurance Racing Vauxhall Insignia. The Team HARD. scholar has been racing for the squad in the VW Cup this year as part of its junior programme and has impressed team boss Tony Gilham with his development: "Tom is the full package - both in and out of the car - which you have to have now. Not only is he an extremely quick driver but he's also a consummate professional and knows how to carry himself aside from racing. He has really progressed over the course of the year and deserves this opportunity."

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