IS MATT NEAL A RECORD BREAKER?

11 June 2009.../This week you can find out if VX Racing driver, Matt Neal current leader of the HiQ British Touring Car Championship, has become a record breaker. Neal, who is often asked to tutor novice drivers on a race track, was challenged to help two of them break a world record. Find out if he succeeds on Sky One Sunday 21^st June at 8pm.

When the producers of Sky One’s Guinness World Records Smashed! approached VX Racing to ask for expert assistance with a record attempt Neal was ready to take up the challenge. However it wasn’t a straightforward race lap: Neal was a passenger in a dual-control Corsa SXi, with each of the GWRS! presenters Steve Jones and Konnie Huq, taking turns in the driving seat. Neal controlled the brake and clutch, but he was in the hands of the presenter controlling the steering and acceleration as they negotiated Bedford Autodrome’s race track.

The day began with Neal demonstrating his driving prowess in a Corsa VXR 888, the sportier version of the Corsa used in the record attempt. The VX Racing BTCC driver showed the presenters the best lines, gears and speeds to take around the circuit before the presenters applied their new-found skills to driving the dual-control Corsa.

“I was a bit apprehensive,” said Neal before the record attempt, “but by the end of the day I was feeling a lot more comfortable as a passenger. The presenters each had completely different driving styles. Steve was very smooth while Konnie was more on the wild side and both were surprisingly quick. Not having complete control of the car was pretty nerve-wracking for me, but once we’d completed a few laps I started to relax.”

The two duos of Neal and Jones and Neal and Huq each had an attempt at taking a new Guinness World Record of ‘Fastest lap of a one-mile course in a dual control car’. Neal might know the result but he’s not giving anything away: “You’ll have to wait until the programme airs to find out whether we achieved a new record,” he said. “However, I can confirm that I survived the attempt and the Corsa wasn’t damaged!”

The current series of the Guinness World Records Smashed! is showing on Sundays on Sky One at 8pm.

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