Huff determined to win 2009 title

The 29-year-old Briton emerged as Chevrolet's leading light in 2008, winning twice and remaining in title contention until the penultimate event.

When asked at Autosport International if he now felt he had to win the championship in 2009, Huff replied: "I hope so. That's the goal. Obviously every year we move forward.

"Finishing third in the championship last year, I was just so happy, to be honest with you, that the diesel SEATs didn't do one-two-three in the championship."

Huff admitted that he was pleased to have compared so strongly to his much more experienced teammates Alain Menu and Nicola Larini.

"I am a firm believer that if you are going to do something do it properly and throw yourself in the deep end with it," he said. "The first ever teammate I came up against was Jason Plato, and he is about as tough as they come.

"But I learned a lot from Jason, and then the last three years I have been with Alain and Nicola. So it has been tough, it has been a steep learning curve, and I am very pleased with myself and what we were doing in 2008 and am looking to keep that going."

The RML-run Chevrolet team will replace the Lacetti with an all-new Cruze for 2009, and although Huff is confident the new car will be a front-runner, he confessed he had mixed feelings.

"It's almost a shame in a way that we have got the new car because at the end of the year the Lacetti was really on the pace and we were doing great things with it that I don't think anyone expected us to do with it," said Huff.

"Pre-season testing has gone well, it is a much more stable car, it is much more sensitive to set-up changes, which itself is obviously very positive.

"There are some downsides to it - it is a much bigger car, it is about eight inches wider than the old car, which obviously means a deficit on straight-line speed. And that is the main problem we are having with it at the moment.

"But things are looking positive with it; every time we are going out in it we're getting quicker with it, we're learning more about the car all the time, and I just hope that when we get to the first race in Brazil on 8 March, if we can qualify in the top five and walk away with 10 points, then that will be a better start than we had last year."