It seems like an age since the drivers of the British Touring Car Championship left Croft and there’s still over four weeks until they will race again but that gives us enough time to reflect on the season so far.

Going into the summer break at the half-way stage it looks like it could be a two horse race for the title with Matt Neal leading his main rival, Jason Plato, by a mere eight points after the first fifteen races of the season. Matt Neal, in his Team Dynamics prepared Honda Civic, rightly commands the top spot in the championship after recording eight podium finishes so far this season, three of them being race wins which came at Rockingham (2) and Oulton Park.

We always knew that the Honda Civic’s were going to be strong this season ever since it was announced that they were going to be racing under the Honda Racing banner. Neal’s team-mate, Gordon Shedden, isn’t too far back either as he reached the 100 point mark last time out thanks to his two race wins at Croft. It’s fair to say that Shedden has fallen foul of bad luck already this season after recording a pole position and a fastest lap in the first race of the season, only to pick up a puncture to end his race prematurely and fall behind the leaders in the championship but his seven podium positions has helped elevate him up into the top three of the championship.

Due to Honda’s involvement they have been entered as a works team. There only challenger in the constructors championship this season are Silverline Chevrolet and their drivers Jason Plato and Alex MacDowall. Jason currently sits comfortably in second place but he’ll be looking to exert some pressure onto Matt Neal during the second half of the season whilst looking to record his second British Touring Car Championship title, a feat which he first achieved back in 2001. With only eight points separating the two drivers it’s all to play for.

Alex MacDowall on the other hand has found things tough in his maiden season and currently lies outside the top ten in thirteenth position. Alex came into this season with lots of promise after his achievements in the Clio Cup but he has yet to show his true potential, partly down the the cars reliability and partly down to his own driver error which is understandable given his age.

If there was to be an award for the team which is branded the most controversial team then it would have to go to Team Aon and their LPG turbocharged engine so far. Their engine has been the talking point of the pit-lae and paddock for the duration of the season so far and there’s been no end of comments from drivers about the top end speed exerted from the two Ford Focus’ driven by Tom Chilton and Tom Onslow-Cole. So far this season, Team Aon have taken four of the possible five pole positions, with only the Honda Civic of Gordon Sheddon eluding them of a clean sweep. However their straight line speed hasn’t gone un-noticed by TOCA as they have already instructed the team to apply a 37mm inlet restrictor to their turbo prior to arriving at Oulton Park, a race which saw Tom Chilton start from pole despite the changes to the engine.

But even though the Ford’s have a clear advantage when it comes to straight line speed, they seem to suffer in terms of handling and race pace with their drivers Tom Onslow-Cole and Tom Chilton currently lying 4th and 9th in the championship respectively.

Also look out for a third Ford Focus hitting the track when the championship moves to Snetterton. Team Aon have announced that a third Focus chassis was being prepared to make the Team Aon team into a three-pronged attack. The driver has yet to be announced.

Read part two of ‘The season so far…” by clicking here.

James Mappin is the editor-in-chief covering the British Touring Car Championship. You can contact him at james@btcccrazy.co.uk, on twitter @BTCCCrazy or on his personal twitter account @jamesmappin.