TELLY expert Tim Harvey has named Matt Neal as the most disappointing driver in this year’s British Touring Car Championship.

The ITV commentator’s surprise verdict came as The Sun asked him to review the exciting 2008 touring car season.

He said ex-champion Neal should have performed better given he was driving the same Vauxhall Vectra as this year’s title-winner Fabrizio Giovanardi — and was at times made to "look ordinary" by his team-mates.

Harvey also nominated Sun-backed SEAT ace Darren Turner as the year’s unluckiest driver and Andrew Jordan as most promising newcomer.

And he reckons John George had the season’s greatest escape with his spectacular barrel-roll at the Brands Hatch finale.

Few are more highly-qualified to comment than Harvey.

As well as watching every touring car race from his commentator’s perch, he is a former champion himself and this year won the Porsche Carrera Cup — a major support series on the BTCC roadshow.

Here is Harvey’s take on 2008 in full.

BEST DRIVER

Fabrizio Giovanardi (Vauxhall Vectra) — It has to be Gio for scoring points in the first 27 of the season’s 30 races, which is a model of how to win a championship.

He clearly didn’t always have the fastest car but his combination of race craft, speed and aggression when he needed it made it no surprise he won his second championship on the trot.

MOST DISAPPOINTING DRIVER

Matt Neal (Vauxhall Vectra) — He had identical equipment to Giovanardi but from the word go it was clear he was not gelling with the car, apart from a couple of wet races in which he excelled.

As a previous champion, and with that car, I would have expected more out of Matt. On occasions, Giovanardi and even his other team-mate Tom Onslow-Cole made him look ordinary.

UNLUCKIEST DRIVER

Darren Turner (SEAT Leon TDi) — This year, as in the previous two seasons, it has to be Darren.

If you were an insurance assessor you’d say he was accident-prone. He always seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time – and then one thing leads to another.

Some of that was down to touring car race craft because in a sportscar Darren is undoubtedly an extremely fast and reliable driver.

MOST PROMISING NEWCOMER

Andrew Jordan (Honda Integra) — He’s just 19 but his car control, fearlessness, speed, race craft and coolness under pressure are all remarkable for his age, especially when the top touring car drivers are aged around 40. He has a huge future in front of him.

NICEST SURPRISE

Adam Jones (SEAT Leon) — What I enjoyed more than anything this year was Adam’s never-say-die attitude.

Even when he was overtaken he would almost always dive back. He’s a real racer and I have never seen so much desire. I would love to see him in a works car.

GREATEST ESCAPE

John George (Honda Integra) — There was a huge amount of energy dissipated in his impact and barrel-roll at Brands Hatch.

I certainly wouldn’t have wanted to be the pinball flying around in that car no matter how tightly you are strapped in.

It was no surprise he had to spend a couple of nights in hospital and he was very lucky to get out of that wreck without serious injuries.

OVERALL VERDICT

A great season in which the independent teams were genuinely as good as the factory efforts. There were a lot of different and new winners, too.

Despite the loss of the works SEATs the prospects for next year are very strong. There is a possibility of BMW being more closely involved with Mat Jackson’s team and I’d like to see that.

Everyone thinks it is going to be a Vauxhall cakewalk but they didn’t win the most races this year. With several independent teams of a similar standard, it’s going to be open to anyone.