Racer aiming to restore his Legends status with another title

But the highly experienced driver knows he will have a real fight on his hands at Brands Hatch to overturn a 70-point deficit from championship leader Dean Brace.

“We’re ready to go so we’ll just have to see how the weekend goes,” the stockcar legend said. “We did have the championship lead but had a bad weekend at Pembrey last time out so we’re now 70 points behind, but that’s nothing really with 1,200 in total available over the whole weekend so there’s plenty to race for.”

That Mickel is even in the position to challenge for the title he last won in 2001 is laudable in itself after he suffered a horrific crash in the very first round at Oulton Park.

As he approached a corner his car was clipped from behind and sent somersaulting into the air, flipping at least ten times before crashing into the tyre wall.

Thankfully the father of two survived with only a severe concussion and bruising, though his early championship hopes took a knock as he collected no points from the opening rounds.

“After that crash I never thought I would have the chance of winning the championship,” said the former NASCAR racer, who was crowned UK and then World Legends Champion in 2001.

“They should have romped away to the title from there but we’ve had some really good results and dragged ourselves right back into contention.”

After winning both the UK and then World Legends Championship Mickel went to America and made his name as a NASCAR driver and commentator for Sky before returning home

Having finished fourth and then third in the last two seasons, Mickel would dearly love to better those results by becoming champion once again. Fellow Mickel Motorsport driver Rickie Leggett has also enjoyed a successful first season and will finish third in the Rookie Championships.