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British Touring Car racer Andy Neate will miss the season finale at Brands Hatch this weekend through illness.

Neate's IP tech Chevrolet Cruze appeared first appeared at Snetterton in August and qualified 11th last time out at Silverstone.

The NGTC machine will not, however, run at Brands because Neate is suffering from pneumonia and has been instructed by his doctor not to compete.

The team will not run a replacement driver.

"It's been an incredibly hard year and I've made no secret of that," said Neate, who now hopes to focus on a development programme ahead of 2014.

"As a team we've been through a lot of disappointment, faced some huge technical and financial challenges and we have come out the other side together.

"Our sponsors have shown a rare loyalty in this business and I can only thank them for that and make a public apology that our season has ended without the shindig at Brands Hatch we hoped for.

"The car has shown undeniable promise with its competitiveness and perhaps the biggest challenge, technical reliability.

"Without the on-track dramas of recent weeks where I have been the unfortunate victim of other's accidents, I have no doubt we would have succeeded in our year one goal of consistent top 10 finishes."