Despite the last minute withdrawal of the Lancia drivers (Simpson and Nicosia), Silverstone still saw a 30 car grid take to qualifying, and the snow showers of two days earlier had turned into dry sunshine.

Qualifying:
Qualifying was mid-morning but still too soon for newcomer Alex Schooledge's ex-BTCC Vauxhall Vectra which joined late in the session. As expected, the pace was set by Alvin Powell's Super Touring Ford Mondeo, and with problems afflicting the Primeras of Challis and Hale, Tony Soper took advantage qualifying second in the Harrier LR9 albeit some 4 seconds adrift. Joss Ronchetti put his Talbot Sunbeam Lotus on the second row of the grid ahead of ex-SCC drivers Philllip Latchford (VW Vento) and Richard Buckley (Honda Integra). Simon Taylor (Honda Civic) was quickly on the pace and led Class E while it was good to see the return of Chris Brogden's Uno after last year's accident at Cadwell Park, his and Alan's efforts rewarded with Class D pole. Another return with a rebuilt car saw Simon Jackson equally rewarded with the Class F pole.

Race:
Dark clouds loomed over Silverstone in the afternoon, but despite the moisture in the air, the rain stayed away. With 30 cars barrelling into Copse, the first corner was odds-on to prove tricky, and so it proved. Phillip Latchford's VW Vento appeared to run wide into the barrier and bounce back across the track where Matt Hale (Vectra) had no chance to avoid and hit the VW hard. Ian Kirk's Honda Civic also got caught in the melee with the rear suspension being knocked badly out of line

On qualifying form, Alvin Powell had been expected to romp away with the race, but both Primeras had been worked on and were now running at full strength. Powell got a bad start and the Challis Primera led into Copse, but Powell soon got on the pace to take the lead from Challis, with Soper giving chase. Ronchetti in the Sunbeam was running an uncontested 5th, but behind these the racing was as close as ever. In Class C Richard Buckley (playing his joker) slowly eased away from Stuart Jefcoate's Porsche 911 despite the latter having the faster lap. Derek Hale had started from way back down the grid, but his Primera was now firing on all 4 cylinders as he carved his way through the pack and into contention. Alex Schooledge was not so lucky, his Vectra was still misbehaving and he started the race from the pit lane a couple of laps down and was unable to make any impression.

Chris Brogden (Fiat Uno) and Chris Broad (Astra) were battling throughout the race, swapping places all the way to the end. With Brogden leading into the last lap, the place looked settled but then his gear lever snapped while stuck in second gear allowing Broad to take the position. Joker playing Brogden who still won Class D said "I never thought I would be throwing the place away again due to my knob falling off". In Class B, joker playing Jason Holmes in the sole Tomcat proved too strong for Daniel Ludlow (Rover Metro) after the demise of Latchford's Vento

Suddenly, up front there was a change. Powell's Mondeo had been pulling slowly away from Challis, but now it was behind. Turns out the Mondeo's engine suddenly cut, and then restarted again. It did this again later in the race allowing Soper through the take 2nd place and Hale to take 3rd with just the consolation of fastest lap going to Powell.

Overall: Winner: Peter Challis (Nissan Primera), 2nd Tony Soper (Harrier LR9), 3rd Derek Hale(Nissan Primera), 4th Alvin Powell (Ford Mondeo), 5th Joss Ronchetti (Talbot Sunbeam Lotus), 6th Richard Buckley (Honda Integra)
Class Winners: Class A Challis, Class B Holmes (Rover Tomcat), Class C Buckley (Honda Integra), Class D Brogden (Fiat Uno), Class E Simon Taylor (Honda Civic), Class F Simon Jackson (Vauxhall Nova)
Driver of the Day: Nigel Ainge
Championship standings:
1 Richard Buckley 62, 2 Jason Holmes 60, 3 Stuart Jefcoate 56

Click here for more pictures from Silverstone

Report by Trevor Nicosia, Car 10

Photos courtesy of Doug Woodward and Oliver Read