MARTYN Bell believes Croft this weekend offers him a chance of a breakthrough first point of 2008.

The Humberside driver feels right at home at what he considers a second home event for him - indeed, he has almost 200 guests and friends attending this weekend.

And he knows the Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch he and team-mate Erkut Kizilirmak race for the Arkas Racing with Sunshine.co.uk squad is a proven force around the Darlington circuit, having won twice outright there in 2005 when run by the factory VX Racing outfit.

Bell, racing a front-wheel-drive car for the first time in his career, is among the large group of mid-grid drivers aiming to ensure they in an ideal position to pounce when the chance of a hallowed top ten result arises.

"I'm looking forward to my second home' race of the year," said the Barrow-upon-Humber driver. "I'm going to have a lot of supporters there for the weekend and hopefully we'll put on a decent show.

"If conditions are dry, I hope to be able to find more speed in myself as we know that the Astra is quick around Croft - it's a circuit that really suits the car. We've shown in the dry that we can run with the likes of Jason Hughes, Rob Collard and Harry Vaulkhard and I want to get into a position to run towards the front of that group."

But he urged caution - particularly after team-mate Kizilirmak had what would have been a first-ever points finish slip through his fingers in a collision with a rival competitor last year.

Bell added: "We have some new ideas and I'm gelling more with the car. The key thing will be to keep out of trouble, as Croft is a circuit where it is easy to make a mistake and take a corner off the car."