Neal tops the times in Brands test

Neal suffered an early setback when his Honda Integra shed a wheel, but luckily the problem occurred at the final corner of the Brands Hatch Indy circuit and he was able to dive straight into the pits for repairs, before rejoining to set the pace.

The top 11 cars were all within 0.6 seconds of Neal's effort during the short afternoon test held as part of the series' media day.

Vauxhall's new signing Tom Chilton was second quickest, ahead of series returnee James Thompson's SEAT Leon.

Independent runners Mike Jordan and Dave Pinkney both broke into the top ten, confirming BTCC boss Alan Gow's recent prediction that their ex-Team Halfords Honda Integras could challenge for podium positions when the season commences at Brands on 9 April.

Some of the other private entrants had less happy afternoons. Both Martyn Bell and Mark Smith damaged their cars in minor accidents, while Jason Hughes suffered an engine failure after only three laps.

Pos  Driver               Make        Time
 1.  Matt Neal            Honda       49.371
 2.  Tom Chilton          Vauxhall    49.452
 3.  James Thompson       SEAT        49.492
 4.  Rob Collard          MG          49.505
 5.  Jason Plato          SEAT        49.526
 6.  Gordon Shedden       Honda       49.574
 7.  Mike Jordan          Honda       49.703
 8.  Gavin Smith          Vauxhall    49.709
 9.  Fabrizio Giovanardi  Vauxhall    49.721
10.  Dave Pinkney         Honda       49.886
11.  Colin Turkington     MG          49.944
12.  Mark Proctor         Honda       50.260
13.  Fiona Leggate        Vauxhall    50.647
14.  Martyn Bell          BMW         51.830
15.  Mark Smith           Alfa Romeo  52.289
16.  Jason Hughes         MG          52.703