BTCC stars arrive at race meet... with a race-insipred caravan

BRITISH Touring Car stars Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden arrived at their most recent race weekend with something a bit out of the ordinary in tow.

The pair arrived in a Honda Civic Tourer, liveried up to look just like the racing versions the pair are more used to thrashing around.

What’s more, they were towing a caravan just as covered in Honda Yuasa Racing graphics as the car, having meandered across the country stopping only for picnics and barbecues – although they did enjoy a spot of mountain biking too.

Aside from a minor dispute over Matt’s map-reading skills on the way to the Snetterton racing circuit, the duo, who are friends away from the track, managed to get to the circuit in one piece. Apparently they couldn’t resist taking the caravan for a couple of laps of the track.

"I'm more used to motorhomes than caravans, to be truthful, but I have to say this new Honda Yuasa Racing-liveried caravan looks sharp!" said Shedden, who sits 15 points adrift of the championship lead.

Presumably following a nudge from a Honda PR contact, he added: "It also underscores the inherent abilities of Honda's new Civic Tourer, which is a very capable tow car and ideal for family journeys.

"I'll tell you one thing, though - Matt's map-reading is atrocious! For somebody who's been racing at Snetterton since 1800-and-something, you'd think he'd know his way here by now."

"Listen,” countered Neal. “When you've been around for as long as I have, you tend to nod off when you're in the passenger seat - and each time I woke up, I was a little disorientated.

“Besides, if ‘Flash' [Shedden] had let me take the wheel, we'd have got here a lot quicker! Talk about ‘Driving Miss Daisy'..."

By Press Association reporter