Egg Sport driver Matt Neal is hoping to go from zero to hero in this year’s British Touring Car Championship with the number 0 adorning his Vauxhall Astra Coupe.

It will be the first time in British national motorsport that 0 has been used after BTCC officials granted permission for the unusual choice of number.

Worcestershire-based Neal, the tallest driver in motorsport at 6-foot-6, has used various numbers during his racing career. Last year, he used 29 and 67 during his stints in the European Touring Car Championship and Australian V8 Supercar Series.

"Hopefully, zero will be a lucky number for me," said Neal, who became the first privateer to record an outright BTCC win in 1999.

Zero, and often double zero, have been widely used by American college basketball and football teams for decades. However, Britain has only recently started to depart from traditional numbering systems in sports.

Premiership football shirt numbering now extends from one into the 40s. Cricketers have also adopted squad numbers for their multi-coloured one-day uniforms.