REIGNING British Touring Car Champion Matt Neal is relishing the defence of his title when he races at the Croft this Sunday.

The Droitwich driving ace is confident that the Yorkshire track will suit his own aggressive driving style, as he looks to extend his lead at the top of the drivers' standings.

The 2005 champion is on course to defend his title with a healthy 41 point lead over closest rival Colin Turkington.

He said: "Croft I really like. It's got a mixture of everything - slow and fast corners with a few good overtaking places. You can rattle your rivals into making mistakes.

"The Clark Esses and Barcroft - both are very fast corners and you've got to have balls to hang on round there. I like a bit of that.

"Then there are the fans up there - they're passionate and really know their stuff. They always make it a great atmosphere. Croft's always one of my favourite circuits."

Neal though will be hoping to avoid a repeat of last year's clash with Jason Plato at the Darlington track.

Neal, who drives for Team Halfords, went to the track as championship leader but saw his lead challenged after victories for Yvan Muller and Turkington.

To make matters worse Neal's Integra was forced off the road when Plato's car shunted into the back of his Integra.

He said: "The cars in the BTCC are always grinding against one another, but Croft really does promote a bit of contact because there are some tight sections.

"There are many competitive cars and drivers so it should be close. A fair few of those drivers are good enough to win but don't want to throw it away. It could get quite frantic.""