MATT Neal begins his quest to land the British Touring Car Championship title on Monday.

Neal, from Hanbury near Droitwich, has joined the works Honda team for this season after taking third place in the championship last year in the Egg Sport Vauxhall Astra.

He's confident of improving on last season's tally of three race victories as the series begins with the first two rounds at Mondello Park in Ireland.

He said: "I'm very pleased to be where I am this year. The package we have with the Civic Type-R is very exciting.

"There has been a fair bit of testing and we've made improvements to an already impressive car, including a new suspension package. It looks very promising for this season."