Paul O'Neill returns to the British Touring Car Championship

O'Neill, who has two BTCC wins to his name, was unable to secure a drive for 2012 after finishing 10th last year in a Tech-Speed Chevrolet Cruze.

He will now make his comeback in a Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Avensis at Croft.

Fan favourite O'Neill will be stepping into the seat usually filled by Tony Hughes, who is unable to contest the Croft rounds. It will be the first time that 32-year-old O'Neill has driven an NGTC machine.

"I spoke to Tony at one of the events earlier in the year and he asked if I'd like to drive the car at Croft," said O'Neill, who will run alongside Adam Morgan in the team.

"It's a chance for me to return to the grid, but I don't want to just jump in the car for a weekend of racing, I want to do a good job."

O'Neill is unsure how competitive he can be, but is aiming for the top half of the field.

"There are more unknowns than knowns for me, as I haven't driven the Toyota, I haven't driven an NGTC car and there is the turbo engine," he admitted.

"It will be difficult to start with but I'll get quicker as the weekend goes on. I'll be aiming to start steady and then maybe we could push to get into the top 10 in the second race.

"My target is to run in the midfield but obviously the dream, as ever, is to finish on the podium. Although that is possible, I know it will be massive long shot."

Speedworks team chief Christian Dick added: "When we knew Tony wasn't going to be able to race, we looked around at who was available who had recent experience of the BTCC.

"Paul is the ideal driver and I have a good feeling about his chances for the weekend at Croft I'm also looking forward to seeing him work alongside Adam, as I'm sure that will help to push him on."