Matt Neal says he remains confident about being fit to contest the opening rounds of the British Touring Car Championship at Donington Park later this month after returning to track action at Brands Hatch.

The 53-year-old has been sidelined since a cycling accident back in January that left him nursing a broken clavicle, fractures to his shoulder, a broken rib and a collapsed lung – with Team Dynamics drafting in former team-mate Gordon Shedden to test its Honda Civic Type R in his absence.

However, Neal was able to take to the track at Brands Hatch on Tuesday for his first run in the car since the accident and is also due to log more miles in the car today [Wednesday] as the team continues to prepare for the season opener at the end of the month.

“It’s just a case of taking it steady,” he told TouringCarTimes. “I wouldn’t say it was super comfy behind the wheel and I wasn’t doing any race runs or anything like that, but it was good to just get on track again as I’ve not been in the car since the final rounds of last year.

“Things are getting better all the time. I have to just keep focused and hopefully I’ll be fully fit when Donington Park rolls around.”