The great British touring car debate: push or pull?
Honda withdrew from the British Touring Car Championship as a works team in 2021 and Team Dynamics had been such an integral part of its huge success in the series since it rejoined as a fully-fledged manufacturer in 2010.
But now that there are no longer ties to the Japanese manufacturer, Neal and Dynamics could look to a new direction in the future without any pre-existing links. So would the Droitwich-based team consider running a product that wasn’t from the firm’s product range?
“I wouldn’t say no to anything at this stage,” says Neal. “You have to take into account that there are probably four years left of this current NGTC regulations cycle so you would have to factor that into any decision you made about what type of car you would build now.
“There is a lot of lobbying and talks about [the BTCC] going totally front-wheel drive, but I know [BMW-based] WSR boss
Dick Bennetts lobbies the other way and there is still a belief that the rules are favouring rear-wheeldrive cars. Dick might point out that he didn’t win last year, but my reply is always that a rearwheel-drive car has won for the five seasons before that…”
Despite that situation, Neal is an advocate of the mixed up format of the drivetrains, and this goes back to his philosophy of having the good of the championship at heart.
“I think it is good and it adds something to it, so I see why
Alan Gow wants to keep the mix,” says Neal. “But I still think the weight and the hybrid favours rear-wheel-drive – and I think it was biased to rear-wheel drive even before the hybrid came in. They should have won last year…”