Bushell leaves the Cheshire venue with a sizeable lead in the championship as it now moves to the Croft Circuit in North Yorkshire for its next two rounds (Sat 10/Sun 11 June).

Bushell led all the way from pole position to win race one, held on the Saturday, and also set the fastest lap for two bonus points and a maximum score. Team-mate Nathan Harrison (Oxford) followed him home to give their Team Pyro squad a dream 1-2 result.

The result marked Harrison’s first outright podium in the UK Clio Cup, as did third for Daniel Rowbottom (Kidderminster) and his small, one-car DRM outfit.

Bushell was in the lead of race two (on Sunday) when it was cut short by an accident further down the order. However officials later judged that Bushell had unfairly ‘bumped’ PP Motorsport/Westbourne’s James Colburn out of the lead in the opening stages and reversed their positions in the result.

This meant Colburn was declared the winner – the result marks a first win in the UK Clio Cup for the PP Motorsport/Westbourne set-up. Bushell was still credited with second place ahead of Rowbottom who took another third place finish.

Bushell’s results, plus a tricky weekend for his two closest rivals, WDE Motorsport’s Paul Rivett (Epsom Downs) and Lee Pattison (Halifax), mean he has now built up a 61-point lead in the standings – almost equivalent to two race wins.

As well as Rowbottom, there were other star performers at Oulton Park: in addition to his second place in race one which earned him top honours in the Graduates Cup for young first-year drivers, Harrison qualified on the front row of the grid for both races; JamSport Racing’s Aaron Thompson (Romford) and  Ciceley’s Luke Reade (Dartford) broke into the top ten in qualifying for both races; Ciceley’s Jade Edwards (Aylesbury) showed an upturn in speed during the weekend; in race two, her team-mate Sam Osborne (Worksop) earned bonus points for a fastest lap of all while Pyro’s Kyle Hornby (Stockport) achieved a maiden Graduates Cup win.

Elsewhere Pyro has moved past WDE to head the Teams’ championship and Rivett continues to lead Pattison in the Masters Cup for older drivers.