Manning excited by Brands Hatch race

"It's going to be the closest thing to an oval that we've run on as a road course," said Manning. "I mean, there's fast corners like Paddock Hill Bend and the Surtees kink at the back, which are going to be very, very challenging. But I think the fact that there are so many right-handers means that it's going to be very, very tough on the outside tyres, especially in a two-hour race.

"Set-up is going to be crucial. In CART tenths of seconds normally separate grid slots. But I think at Brands it's going to be thousands of a second."

Manning predicts that driving a Champ Car around the famous circuit will prove a very intense experience. "I think we're probably going to be getting into 37s laps, I would say. Pretty fast. There are no real straights on it, either. There's going to be no straights and no resting, definitely. I think it's going to be pretty physically and mentally challenging."

The Briton made his Champ Car debut in a one-off drive at Rockingham last year, and is looking forward to racing at home again. "I've got about 20,000 friends and family coming down," he joked. "Well, not that many, but there's going to be great support. It's going to be an awesome crowd, carrying plenty of Union Jacks. It's going to be a bit of a different experience. I experienced a bit of it at Rockingham last year, but this is going to be something else!"