PERSHORE’S Halfords Yuasa Racing duo will throw caution to the wind in the British Touring Car Championship season finale at Brands Hatch this weekend.

An unprecedented eight drivers go wheel-to-wheel for the coveted crown.

There have been a record number of different 2016 race-winners with Gordon Shedden and Matt Neal sitting second and third respectively in the drivers’ standings, 11 and 13 points adrift of leader Sam Tordoff.

Brands Hatch’s legendary circuit has been a happy hunting ground for Honda in seasons past with Shedden clinching his second BTCC title there in dramatic style last year.

Both the Scot and evergreen team-mate Neal, who passed the 600-start mark at Silverstone in the last meeting, are fired up with Honda and Halfords Yuasa Racing in the thick of the battle for manufacturers’ and teams’ honours.

Shedden said: “Brands Hatch GP is an awesome venue for a title showdown.

"I’ve had some great results there in the past and hopefully the positive memories of last year will spur me on.

“Usually, when you get to this stage of proceedings, you’d realistically say there are two or three drivers who could be champion but this year there are twice as many at least.

“That means nobody can afford to sit back and just collect points, everybody has to be pushing flat-out and it’s going to require an absolutely stellar weekend to get the job done.

“Ultimately, and regardless of personal aspirations, the goal is to get a Civic Type R over the finish line first.”

Neal said: “It would have been crazy to think back at the start of the year eight drivers would be going to Brands Hatch still in with a shout of the title.

“That proves how ultra-competitive and incredibly close the BTCC is at the moment, you simply can’t afford to have a bad weekend, especially now we’ve got to the business-end of the season.

“We’ve had a bit of ill-fortune befall us at certain key stages that has cost us ground but both of us go to Brands well in the hunt and prepared to throw caution to the wind and, as a team, I don’t think anybody in the paddock works together better than Flash and I do.”