The visit to Oulton Park was likely to be a make or break weekend for Nissan driver David Leslie. Trailing his Nissan teamate by some 22 points he needed an excellent display from himself and a few slip-ups from Aiello. Leslie looked like a man who was far from beaten as he grabbed both poles, the sprint race pole no doubt aided by being last of the one-shot runs on the drying track. In both instances Aiello was right behind him. There was a consistent performance from James Thompson taking a brace of third places. Thompson's championship aspirations were over after Knockhill but he is still fighting to hang on to third place despite the challenge from champion Rydell.

Looking back down the grid it was interesting to see the likes of Reid, Cleland, Menu & Hoy lingering at the back of the grid. Reid was a great hope for F1 superstardom back if the 80s back British F3 was producing Senna, Herbert, Donnelly, Hakkinen and many more. Menu went further and was a regular F3000 podium finisher. Hoy and Cleland have a long and illustrious past. BTCC is now so competitive and professional that only superstars need apply - even Derek Warwick, tipped as a next World Champion before 'Our Nige' started winning couldn't make a success of his foray into the championship.

So the scene was set for a grand showdown. In the event it all went horribly wrong for Leslie. His start in the sprint race was characterised by an excessive amount of wheelspin. Maybe it was the mounting pressure though Leslie put it down to over exuberance. So Aiello was into first followed by Thompson with Leslie fending off Rydell. Menu went off at Cascades trying some desparate measures to improve on his last place on the grid and this brought the safety car out for a lap. Leslie's dogged determination not to allow Aiello to get away provided the dice of the race, pulling alongside Thompson on the main straight and the two remaining side by side for most of a lap before Leslie started to gain the advantage. This allowed Plato (who had got past Rydell) the opportunity to get into the fray but as he moved himself alongside Thompson he was duly dispatched into the scenery , a move which cost him his third place. Team orders meant that Rydell was allowed into third.

Unfortunately for Leslie the start of the feature race was much the same. Again Aiello and Thompson passed him. This time though, Thompson kept the momentum from his start and passed Aiello through Old Hall. With Leslie behind him Aiello could afford to stroke it home. He stopped early for new tyres, trying to gain an advantage over Thompson, but it wasn't enough. Leslie stayed out for as long as he could, so claiming an extra point for leading the race, but his pit stop strategy was wrong and he found himself under serous pressure from Rydell. Rydell's car was working well, and as Leslie's brakes began to go off Rydell's pressure became irresistible and he passed on the penultimate lap.

The win for Thompson means his aspirations of third place in the championship are still promising. Leslie, on the other hand, must be hoping for some misfortune to come the way of Aiello at the Silverstone finale, as he now needs to make up 28 points, with a maximum of 33 available. Despite the huge advantage, Aiello remains coy about his chances. Maybe these guys are getting just too professional...

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