The picturesque setting of Oulton Park in Cheshire plays host to round four of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship and as always will bring the best out of the drivers this weekend as they all battle for those elusive championship points.

Currently topping the championship table is two-time champion Matt Neal after his dominant display at Thruxton last time out and leads by 12 points ahead of Mat Jackson in his Airwaves Racing Ford Focus and a further 3 points ahead of James Nash.

One thing that’s certainly causing a stir in the paddock is the recent rule change which TOCA enforced last week which now allows normally aspirated S2000 specification cars run at 45kgs lighter than before in a bid to regain parity between the different regulations currently in the British Touring Car Championship.

Despite leading the championship, Neal knows that this weekend will be tough on the back of the rule changes and the fact that as championship leader he will carry 45kgs of success ballast in his turbo powered Honda Civic.

Speaking of his chances at the Oulton Park circuit, Matt Neal said, “The rules say that if you are leading the points, you have to have success ballast and that is going to be a real penalty around somewhere like Oulton Park.”

“It is a fast, flowing circuit with lots of undulations and plenty of points where you have to accelerate hard – which is where the success ballast is going to hold me back. Despite that, I love the track because it is a real challenge and you have to be very committed.”

Sitting second in the championship and having already won a race this season, Mat Jackson will be eager to close the gap to Neal but he again knows that the success ballast on the car will hamper his performance especially in qualifying and the first race of the day.

“Oulton Park is one of my favourite circuits on the BTCC calendar and where I took my first win in the BTCC back in 2007; let’s hope we can make it win number 14 on Sunday!”

Mat went on to say, “Since our last race at Thruxton we have used the long break to reflect on our performance in the first three rounds and try to extract a little more from the car, which I think is essential going into Oulton Park since the latest TOCA rule change will see the normally aspirated car of Plato 62kg lighter than us, which around Oulton Park will really hurt us due to the rollercoaster nature of the circuit.”

This weekend will also see the return of two drivers as well as the introduction of a new driver for this season. Tony Hughes will return in his Speedworks Motorsport NGTC Toyota Avensis after sitting out the last round at Thruxton in a bid to improve the car ready for their local race meeting at Oulton Park. The other driver making a return will be Dave Newsham. Dave, who recently tested for Special Tuning Racing at Donington Park will pilot the STR SEAT Leon alongside new team-mate Tom Boardman after making the switch from the Geoff Steel Racing team over a month ago.

Lea Wood will also be in attendance this weekend for the first time this season. Wood will be driving the BTC-spec Honda Integra for the remainder of the 2011 season and as a result will carry 50kgs ballast enforced by TOCA to the BTC-spec cars. Wood’s Integra will be the only car on the grid which will carry such penalty.

You can catch all of the LIVE action on ITV4, ITV4HD and also online at www.itv.com/touringcars with coverage on TV starting from 12pm on Sunday 4th June and at 3:10pm on Saturday for LIVE qualifying online.

Photo Credit: Pete Mainey (www.psmmotorsportimages.co.uk)

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.