EARLY British Touring Car Championship joint leader Matt Neal says his Honda Yuasa Racing team cannot afford to take their foot off the gas heading into tomorrow’s meeting at Donington Park.

Worcestershire driver Neal heads the standings along with Jack Goff following a successful outing at Brands Hatch earlier this month.

Having seen team-mate Gordon Shedden win the second race at the Kent track, Neal ensured it was an Easter weekend to remember for the new Civic Type R with victory in the third to go with back-to-back eighth-placed finishes in the first two races.

Donington Park holds fond memories for Neal, not least because it was at the Leicestershire circuit in 1999 when he became the first independent driver to win a BTCC race outright, and he is ready to build on his early triumphs in 2015.

The Shenstone-based racer said: “We may have won two of the first three races, but we’re not resting on our laurels.

“We know we still have a lot of areas to work on with this car and a lot of potential to unlock.

“As championship leader, I’ll have maximum success ballast in qualifying and race one but I’ve always said I’d rather carry the extra weight if it means I’ve got points in the bag.

“The racing was pretty topsy-turvy at Brands Hatch and Donington promises more of the same.”

Rob Austin Racing, who like Honda are based on the Pershore Trading Estate, head to Donington looking to build on their performance at Brands Hatch, which peaked with team principal Austin finishing fifth in race three.

But Donington has not been a happy hunting ground for Austin and he is hoping he and team-mate Hunter Abbott can guide their Audi A4s to success.

Evesham’s Austin said: “I’ve always gone well at Donington in anything else I’ve raced there but for some reason it’s always worked against the Audi.

“It’s a similar situation at Thruxton, which follows Donington in May.

“There are two bogey circuits coming up for us therefore no pressure then on my ace engineer Matt Taylor to deliver the goods!”

The competition is screened live on ITV4.