Bushell leads the standings by more than the equivalent of a race victory heading to the next two rounds at the spectacular Oulton Park in Cheshire on the weekend of Sat 20/Sun 21 May…

After setting a new record qualifying lap on Saturday, Team Pyro’s Bushell converted pole position to lead all the way in race one. He also set a new race lap record and his winning speed was also the highest ever seen over a race distance.

However he did not have it easy as PP Motorsport/Westbourne’s James Colburn (Worthing) pushed him all the way before settling for a fine second. This marked a first podium result for PP Motorsport. Similarly Westbourne’s Dorlin was close behind in third for his first top-three finish in the UK Clio Cup…

In race two, former Champion Bushell again led from pole position but came under huge pressure from 18-year-old newcomer Dorlin. In a dramatic twist – broadcast live on ITV4 – Dorlin was able to get alongside Bushell exiting the final bend and nosed ahead on the run to the line to win by just 67 1000ths of a second.

WDE Motorsport’s Paul Rivett (Epsom Downs) took third ahead of team-mates Lee Pattison (Halifax) and Dan Zelos (Dereham) – the latter bettering the lap time set by Bushell in race one for another new record.

Meanwhile there were other notable performances at Thruxton, among them Daniel Rowbottom’s (Kidderminster) climb from 13th to fourth in race one. In the same race Brett Lidsey (Northfleet) showed great promise on his and his MRM team’s debut with a strong 11th position. And in qualifying there were ‘best evers’ from both Zelos and Pyro’s Nathan Harrison (Oxford) with a second and a third on the starting grid respectively.

The team’s title battle intensified with Pyro closing to within just five points of leader WDE. Westbourne, thanks to the efforts of Dorlin and Colburn, has moved up to third. Dorlin has increased his advantage at the top of the Graduates Cup class for young, first-year drivers. Rivett continues to lead the Masters Cup for older drivers…