REIGNING Dunlop MSA Brit-ish Touring Car champion Matt Neal from Droitwich says the fans' reaction to him winning £250,000 in a race remains his favourite memory as he prepares for his 300th event in the championship at the Croft circuit in North Yorkshire on Sunday.

Neal was handed the cheque for a quarter-of-a-million pou-nds by BTCC Series Director Alan Gow at Donington Park in 1999 after he had just become the first privateer team driver to beat the might of the manufacturer squads.

Team Halfords driver Neal says that the sensation was even greater than when he clinched the BTCC title for the first time last year.

Neal, who became nicknamed 'The People's Cham-pion', said: "The very first race win at Donington when we took the cheque off Alan Gow -- that's still the one, for the crowd as much as anything. The crowd's reaction made it a very special day."

Neal says victory in that era was much tougher for even the best-funded independent teams to take on the no-expense-spared manufacturer squads. Current-day BTCC rules mean spending on car development is limited, giving the smaller squads a chance of success in UK motor sport's premier championship.

"It's very different these days -- a good independent team can come in and take on the big boys, as we proved last year," added Neal.

"But times have changed a lot. I didn't break into the BTCC until I was 26 and when I did no other driver was under 30.

"You look at drivers now like Colin Turkington and Tom Chilton -- they''re in their fifth seasons and are still in their early 20s. They're achieving so much more now at a much earlier age, winning races, pushing for the title."

Neal believes that Team RAC driver Turkington in particular has a great touring car career ahead of him. The 24-year-old will arrive at Croft lying second to Neal in the drivers' standings thanks to a victory in the most recent race at Thruxton.

"Colin has been very impressive with his consistency," said Neal.

"He is always ultra quick on his day but it's maintaining consistency at every meeting that really counts and this year he's keeping that up."