The 2002 season kicked off in spectacular fashion at Brands Hatch over the Easter weekend, and there's no reason to think this won't continue as the teams and drivers move to Oulton Park in Cheshire for rounds three and four of the championship. There will be more cars on the grid in both classes this coming weekend. Gareth Howell and Colin Turkington will make their Touring class debuts with Team Atomic Kitten, while in the Production class, Gavin Pyper will drive a 3rd GA Motorsport Alfa Romeo, with support from Team Dynamics Alloy Wheels. John Batchelor will also return in a 2nd Honda Accord for Team B&Q Jet York City Racing.

The top finishers from the Feature race at Brands Hatch will be carrying success ballast for qualifying and the Sprint race at Oulton Park. Vauxhall Motorsport's James Thompson will be carrying the full 42kg of ballast, as will Rob Collard in the Production class. Yvan Muller will carry 30kg, and Anthony Reid will have 18kg. Matt Neal, who finished fourth in the feature, after winning the Sprint, will have just an extra 9kg on board his Egg Sport Astra Coupe. Looking forward to the weekend, Neal comments: "As I'm not carrying as much weight as Yvan or James for the first race, I hope for a good qualifying session and hopefully a win in the Sprint race. It will probably be much closer in the Feature race. I expect the MGs and Peugeots to be strong, as not only are we carrying ballast, but they are now underweight! Oulton is a good drivers circuit; weight will be the critical factor though, as there are lots of tight hairpins and chicanes with long uphill drags after. My team mate Paul is also on minus ballast, so he could be one to watch as well!"

In the Touring class last time out at Brands Hatch, no driver managed to get on the podium in both races, and five different teams and three manufacturers were represented over the course of the two races. Team Halfords will be hoping to continue their strong form which they showed at Brands Hatch, as will MG. Warren Hughes will drive the 2002 spec EX 260 model competitively for the first time this weekend, and will be looking to show the pace that his team-mate, Anthony Reid, demonstrated at Brands Hatch.

Team Petronas Syntium Proton will be looking for consistency at Oulton Park, with the priority being to continue developing the car. The team are pleased with progress that was made at Brands Hatch and at the Thruxton test session, and they have since made improvements to the car, including modifications to the brakes and gearchange. Team PSP’s Phil Bennett comments: “We made good progress at Brands. The guys did some great pit stops and turned the cars around well. For Oulton we are aiming for two finishes and that will be all.” He also feels that the team is suffering from a lack of testing: “Testing is far to restricted - we have just 5 test days during the season. If we can't test at test days then we have to test during race meetings - and that isn't really the idea! Ultimately everyone is still very far away from Vauxhall, and it is robbing spectators of close racing!”

In the Production class, Collard Racing will be keen to continue where they left off at Brands Hatch, taking a win and a second place. The Renault Clio will however be carrying a full complement of ballast going in to the meeting. One driver who will be hoping for a more successful weekend this time out is Tech-Speed’s Mark Fullalove. The 2001 Lotus Elise Champion was on pole for both races at Brands Hatch, but failed to finish either. He is optimistic for Oulton Park: “I haven't driven the car since the Brands Hatch and had to miss the Thruxton test because of the engine damage caused by going into the gravel in the sprint race, but the engine has been back to Mountune for a complete rebuild so all should be fine for Oulton. I obviously aim to get my championship hopes back on track and hope to get a couple of good results. Completing more than 6 laps in both races would be a good start!” On his competitors in the Production class, he comments: “Rob Collard will be on a high after his great weekend at Brands so he should go well and the Clio should suit the circuit and judging by the pace of the Civic Type R, if the car is reliable if will be very quick.”

The Edenbridge Racing BMWs of Tom Boardman and Norman Simon are likely to be strong once again, whilst Synchro Motorsport will be hoping to reproduce the pace that they showed after joining the Feature race late at Brands Hatch. There is sure to be much action throughout the class, and making any sort of predictions for the races could be very difficult!

A full grid of 30 cars should mean that there is a great weekend of racing ahead at Oulton Park. It is a circuit that many of the drivers enjoy, and a combination of success ballast, changeable weather conditions and of course a little bit of luck could well make for some less than expected results over the course of the weekend – a meeting not to be missed!…