Neate to swell BTCC grid at Brands Hatch finale

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Thu 11th August 2005 Former SEAT Cupra Championship racer Andy Neate is set to make his full BTCC debut at Brands Hatch at the final meeting of the season. The 30 year-old from Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire will drive a Vauxhall Astra Coup� run by new to the series Daniels Motorsport.

Neate will drive the 2003-spec Astra Coup� that was run by Tech-Speed Motorsport for Michael Bentwood in 2004. Daniels Motorsport, run by Pete Daniels, will be stepping up to the BTCC with Neate after successfully running saloon cars in championships including Britcar, and the Fiesta championships.

Neate Said �This will be my greatest achievement in motorsport to date, the BTCC is where every tiptop racer aspires to be. After withdrawing from the Seat�s last year due to becoming increasingly frustrated with mechanical problems I decided to go and have some fun and return to the BRSCC Fiestas.�

�Realistically we are not going to challenge the big outfits in the series but if we can stay reliable I have no doubt we can be the best of the rest, if we can be around that tenth spot in race two who knows what might happen. This is really a toe in the water exercise for everyone, hopefully we will make a good account of ourselves and put us on a good footing for a full championship assault next year�.

Andy Neate drove a Mitsubishi Carisma for Team CAM in the Production class of the BTCC in 2001 and more recently, he completed half a season of the 2004 SEAT Cupra Championship, as well as a one-off race in the Renault Clio Cup. In 2005 he has been racing in the Dees BRSCC Fiesta Championship, where he is vying for the title with double-champion Dave Abbott.

The team is aiming to shake the car down in the next few weeks followed by one more test session before the big weekend.