The high speed Thruxton circuit took its toll on several front runners in the production class last time out, notable casualties in the feature race included Simon Harrison and Roger Moen. The HTML Peugeot 306’s are the cars to beat at the moment, and their mechanical failures at Thruxton were a welcome sight for James Kaye of Barwell Motorsport in his Honda Accord who took a win.

Also going well at the moment is Matt Jackson in the Ford Focus. Matt has performed consistently so far this year, and is currently 3rd in the Production class standings. Team-mate Gareth Howell had a tougher time, and a bruised and battered car was wheeled back to GR Motorsport headquarters. The Kent driver will be hoping for a less torrid time this weekend, and build on the 3rd position he achieved at the opening race and a chance to improve on his championship standing.

Performing well to date is the Alfa 156 of Gavin Pyper. He topped the times in the class at testing at Donington last week, and also went quickly at the official TOCA test at Oulton Park back at the start of April. Pyper will not however be wishing for a repeat of the spectacular roll that wrecked his scarlet machine last season.

Much was made of the new sprint race format and whether it would give the less powerful and more standard cars a chance for an outright race podium position, but in the event the Touring cars caught up and passed the production cars with relative ease. Whether this will be repeated at Oulton Park remains to be seen. The possibility of a downpour may just give the entrants the opportunity to achieve the glory.

The production class is proving to be a valuable asset to the new look BTCC for 2001. Series director Richard West has made clear his appreciation for the work that these teams have put into making it a success, and judging by the comments and feedback by spectators so far, they are very pleased with the entertainment they are receiving.