Mat, from Henley-in-Arden, will drive the SEAT Sport UK team's Toledo Cupra - which Jason Plato raced to victory three times in this year's BTCC - at the Rockingham circuit in Northamptonshire on Thursday 3 November.

The test is part of Mat's reward for finishing runner-up in SEAT's ultra-competitive Cupra series this year, in which he won more races than any other driver and also earned £40,000 out of SEAT's massive prize fund - the biggest of its kind by far in British motor sport.

Mat, aged 24, says: "For a young driver looking to break into the BTCC, days like these don't come around very often. I'll be treating the test as seriously as if it were a race weekend and concentrating fully on working with the team to get the most out of the day. I'll do the best I can and I hope they like what they see.

"The SEAT team is one of the very best in the BTCC and probably the most colourful in terms of image anywhere in British motor sport. With Jason Plato in the team, they have a truly professional personality and one I am striving to emulate! But hats off to SEAT - nobody else can offer their young drivers something like this. It's a brilliant opportunity and I'm sure there's a lot I'm going to learn."

Mat, whose career is supported by Whale Tankers, has also confirmed he will take part in SEAT's inaugural European Masters Race at the Spanish Formula One Grand Prix circuit at Barcelona on Sunday 13 November. The event, set to attract some 60,000 spectators, is being contested by the top drivers from all of SEAT's Cupra championships across Europe and the overall winner will receive a fully-funded drive with SEAT in one of next year's rounds of the World Touring Car Championship.

Mat adds: "The Masters is a very big event and with a winner takes all prize that SEAT has put up, the action will be spectacular - everybody wants to win a prize like that. I'll go there as having proved myself as the fastest driver and most prolific race winner from the UK series, but it's going to be very tough. I've been doing my homework and I am aware that it's not just the UK series that is ultra competitive, but all the SEAT championships from across Europe attract a lot of competition and intense rivalries. It's set to be a very demanding race meeting for me."