Normal service resumed for Nissan

David Leslie led home his Nissan Primera
team-mate Laurent Aiello, and nobody else could get close to the front. This was Leslie's first victory since he won at the same circuit in May last year. While his new partner Aiello was won six times in 1999, Leslie had suffered dismal luck.

The final podium spot went to James Thompson, the Honda Accord driver
backing up his win in the earlier Sprint race.

Leslie led away from pole, while Thompson made a slow start, allowing
Aiello to slip through into second. That was as close as anyone came to the
Nissan pair for the rest of the afternoon, they pulled away from the field
at about 0.5s a lap.

Behind them Thompson briefly slipped back behind the Ford Mondeo of Alain
Menu, but found a way past on lap 2. He pulled clear, while Menu was reeled in by the Volvo S40 of reigning champion Rickard Rydell.

Things remained static until the pit stops started. Thompson
and Menu pitted on the same lap, followed by Leslie a lap later. But the
important stop was that of Aiello, who came in next time around. This time,
the bad luck came Aiello's way, as the right front jammed briefly, costing
him a few seconds and any chance of snatching the lead.

Once the field settled down after the stops, nothing much had changed -
Leslie leading Aiello, with those two well clear of Thompson, Menu and
Rydell. But Aiello was clearly not content with second, and closed right up
to his team-mate's tail.

Aiello spent the last ten laps within 0.6s of the leader, but decided that a
move would have been too risky, opting to settle for second and bolster his
championship lead.

The Frenchman may have missed the chance to win a £250,000 pay-out when he crashed at the start of the Sprint Race, but his championship lead remains comfortable.

With six laps left Menu ran wide and onto the grass,
slipping to sixth, but that was the only change in the top few positions
as the race wound down. Yvan Muller came from the back of the grid to 5th place.

In the Independents category, Matt Neal made it nine wins from 12 rounds in
his Nissan Primera, finishing seventh having lost a position during the pit
stops. His nearest rival was Mark Blair, eleventh in his Vauxhall Vectra.

Feature Race result from Donington: