Silverstone Feature: Thommo on top

The difference seemed to be in the second pair of tyres taken on by the two front-runners. Reid had led away from pole and built up an early lead, while Thompson was scything through from fifth on the grid - both cars running on minimum weight for this race. Once up to second Thompson looked comfortable, but not too threatening, until the two made their mandatory stops.

"The second set of tyres was perhaps not quite as good and the balance wasn't easy after that," reported Reid. "I made sure I kept my best set of tyres until last," said Thompson. "I could see that he was wrestling it a bit, so I knew it was only a matter of time."

The crucial moment came when the pair were still well down the field after stopping earlier than many. Reid got a bit sideways at Copse and Thompson pounced on the run-up to Becketts. "We had a bit of a cheeky nudge at Becketts, but then I was gone," reported Thompson. When Reid ran wide on the way into Priory later in the lap it was effectively all over. Thompson pushed hard to build a lead as he saw rain clouds heading for the circuit, and had a big enough advantage to be able to take it easy when a brief shower dampened the asphalt.

Reid was equally comfortable in second, while Matt Neal got the better of an Egg Astra battle with Paul O'Neill to be third, ahead of his team-mate. Tim Harvey was a fine fifth, close behind the Egg boys and well clear of the rest of the Independents. Honda's Alan Morrison had been a threatening sixth, eyeing up Harvey and O'Neill's places, until a front wheel worked loose and his place went to team-mate Andy Priaulx.

Scraps abounded down the field, but three of the pre-race favourites were in the wars. Sprint race winner Warren Hughes started fourth, but found the maximum success ballast he'd earned a major handicap. "I was just a punchbag in the opening laps. I was slow on the straight so that made me vulnerable," he explained.

The only clash that really upset him was with Phil Bennett at Copse and that ruined both their races. Hughes finished 11th and Bennett 13th. Yvan Muller struggled throughout with an electrical problem which slowed the car intermittently - "the same electrical problem that's been there since Oulton Park," complained the distinctly miffed Frenchman.

Aaron Slight was the other big casualty. The Kiwi had qualified third, but a run in with Morrison at Becketts on the opening lap put him out. "It's just something that shouldn't have happened," said the irritated former biker.

Kelvin Burt won BTC Production. "That was more like it. How it should have been in the sprint," said Burt.

He'd had to work for it though, in a spirited, but clean battle with James Kaye's Honda Civic. The pair even spun in unison once at Copse. Burt's quicker recovery gave him the win. Kaye wasn't too worried though, as a guest driver Burt doesn't score points, so it was a fine result for Kaye. Spencer Marsh led the rest, well back, one of several who had featured in a host of cracking class battles.