BTCC Preview: Round 12 - Silverstone.

Anthony Reid and Alain Menu will go head to head this weekend at Silverstone for the honour of being crowned 2000 British Touring Car Champion.

Last weekend's fierce duel at Oulton Park in which Anthony Reid gained the upper hand in the points standings with a win and a second place, has set up a fantastic title decider this Saturday night at Silverstone.

The event promises to be every bit as spectacular as Snetterton's 'Mid Summer Madness' under the lights with all three Ford Mondeo drivers still in with a shout of the title. Even if they are not going to be present in the series on a works level next year, the Blue Oval are guaranteed to go out on a high.

Reid leads Menu by nine points going into Saturday's two events although when the ever complicated dropped points system comes into play, neither driver holds much of an advantage. Drivers are only allowed to count their best 20 results from 24 races and Reid has already scored points in all but two of the 22 races run so far this year. Therefore, if Reid finishes better than eighth in both races, he will have to drop points whereas Menu has only 19 points finishes from 22 races.

Reid's performance at Oulton Park will also see him carrying a 40-kilogram weight penalty for the weekend whereas Menu and title outsider Rickard Rydell are completely ballast free. In order to hold on to his points lead, Reid must show the consistency that has brought him to the finish in every race bar one (he lost points for getting disqualified at Croft) this year. It is ironic that the one race where he failed to finish was at Silverstone back in June when he was eliminated in a crash with Vincent Radermecker.

Memories of the blue and yellow Ford spearing across the wet grass at Brooklands into the Belgian driver will not hinder the veteran Scottish driver and he will be watching Menu like a hawk all weekend as he tries to keep one step ahead of his rival.

Menu played a canny game at Silverstone last time out, as he did not want to carry ballast over to the following event at Croft. The Swiss driver was eliminated from the Sprint Race with a broken clutch and tried to ensure that he finished fourth in the Feature Race, the top position that doesn't award ballast. However Rydell's disqualification scuppered the plan and the Swiss star was credited with third and the corresponding ballast. There will be no games this Saturday however as Alain knows that he must go all out, all of the way if he wishes to overhaul his team-mate.

For Rydell, this weekend is just a question of trying to score as many points as possible without interfering with his team-mates. It is mathematically possible for the Swedish driver to take the title but it would require him to win both races and take pole position for each race whilst at the same time both Menu and Reid could not score. In reality, the best Rydell can hope for is to consolidate third place in the standings from Yvan Muller, who is now just three points in arrears after a strong Oulton weekend.

Muller's double podium result last Sunday will mean that the fiery Frenchman will be carrying some 30 kg of ballast while both Menu and Rydell will carry none. Muller did however, dominate the Feature here last time out and with second place in the Manufacturer's table at stake, expect to see no holds barred all the way down the field.

Another driver that will not be carrying any ballast into the weekend, was a winner here back in June, James Thompson. The Englishman is likely to leave the BTCC next year as he tries to carve himself out a career in the newly revived DTM Series and he will undoubtedly be looking to leave on a high note after such a frustrating year. Thompson will also be looking to wrest seventh place away from Matt Neal in the points standings now that Gabriele Tarquini has assured himself of the honour of being top Honda driver in the table.

Tom Kristensen in the third Honda will be back this weekend after his scary Oulton Park crash and he too will be challenging for seventh overall on a weekend where nearly every driver in the field still has plenty to race for.

David Leslie will make a welcome return to action in the PRO Motorsport Nissan Primera after missing the last two rounds as the team continued to develop the car. Signs are that a significant amount of progress has been made and with Leslie's tremendous experience, the team could prove to be a real nuisance to Neal and the factory teams.

The Class B Championship will not rival its Oulton Park numbers as the Spa Francorchamps round of the National Saloon Championship will mean that there is unlikely to be a second Peugeot 306 to partner Alan Morrison and the Ford Focus' of Simon Harrison and Gareth Howell have yet to confirm their entry.

The field should still top the 20 car mark as both Gary Ayles owned Alfa's are expected to be out again after their very physical weekend at Oulton while Bryce Wilson will make his debut in the RJN Motorsport Nissan in place of Andy Middlehurst.

All the action around them will cause a major distraction to the Championship contenders Alan Morrison and James Kaye who are currently separated by just eleven points. Morrison is unlikely to have the benefit of a team-mate in the Touring Car VIP Club Peugeot while Kaye has to rely on Barwell team-mate Mark Lemmer to help him claw back the deficit.

The action at the back of the field is going to be just as frantic as the battle at the front of the grid with many drivers in both classes looking to prove themselves, improve their Championship positions and try and secure a deal for next year. Fuel or no fuel, this is an event not to be missed.