REIGNING-champion Matt Neal is revved up and raring to go as the start of the new Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) draws closer.

The Droitwich race ace will once again be at the wheel of a Team Halfords Honda Integra when the 2006 BTCC gets underway at Brands Hatch on April 9.

The world-famous circuit in Kent stages the opening three rounds and, so far, 19 cars have been entered for the season's 10 race meetings. Each race will receive live Sunday afternoon television coverage on ITV1.

Evesham's Dan Eaves has been replaced as Neal's team-mate for the new season by Gordon Shedden, who is making his BTCC debut.

Team Halfords has also entered a third car for an as-yet unnamed driver to join as the season progresses.

While Neal is tipped by many to become the first driver to win back-to-back titles since the BTCC's two-litre era began in 1991, he clearly faces enormous opposition.

SEAT Sport UK boasts arguably the strongest driver line-up in Jason Plato and James Thompson -- both former BTCC champions.

Also joining the team for four race meetings in place of Thompson, is another BTCC debutant, Darren Turner.

Vauxhall's team, VX Racing, fields three Astra Sport Hatches and will be looking to win back a clean sweep of titles -- while it took a fifth consecutive Manufacturers' Championship in 2005, it lost the Drivers' and Teams' crowns that it had held since 2001.

The driver line-up is virtually all-new. Irishman Gavin Smith remains, but he has two new team-mates in fast-rising 21-year-old British talent Tom Chilton and Italian superstar Fabrizio Giovanardi -- one of the world's most successful touring cars drivers.

The renamed Team RAC squad also looks likely to challenge for championship honours with its MGs being driven by proven race-winners Rob Collard and Colin Turkington, who rejoins the outfit after a frustrating season with VX Racing.

Like Team Halfords, Team RAC has entered a third car with the driver's identity yet to be revealed.

Uniquely, the BTCC will again be contested by a car running on bio-ethanol fuel -- Fiona Leggate, the only female driver on the grid, will race the Thurlby Motors Boston Bowl with Tech-Speed team's alternatively-powered Vauxhall Astra Coup.

Meanwhile, four teams will make their BTCC debuts in 2006. They include Eurotech Racing with John Guest, InFront Motorsport, Geoff Steel Racing and Motorbase Performance.