• Robert mixes it with the BTCC big boys

Starting from 13th on the grid a superb getaway in race one saw him gain several places although he was forced to take avoiding action as several cars collided, dropping him back to 13th at the end of the first lap. The next lap he chased down Luke Hines and passed him at Copse before running wide on the exit and set after the battling Carl Breeze and Colin Turkington. With the grid for the second race determined by the top 10 from the first, but in reverse order, Rob in 9th was already looking at a front row slot, until he was passed on the last corner by series returnee Kelvin Burt.

"It was a bit busy in front of me especially at the start. I made a great start but had to lift half way down the start/finish straight to get out of Carl Breeze's way then he moved four or five of them out the way for me at Copse corner. Then Reid fired his team-mate off and spun in front of me and I had to go round the outside of him and onto the infield and four or five cars passed me which dropped me back down to 13th. I climbed my way back to 8th and then I was just cruising round for the last few laps in 9th but unfortunately Burt got past me on the last corner which put me on pole for race 2!"

The second of the day's races had Robert then on his first BTCC pole but at the lights a slipping clutch dropped him down initially although he recovered well to take the lead ahead of the battling Thompson, Burt and Muller. For several laps, the youngster in only his eighth ever BTCC race mixed it with the former champions and enjoyed a close run battle with Thompson, before the 2002 Champion forced his way ahead. As Rob came under increasing pressure from Muller, the pair collided, the impact causing oversteer to his SEAT Toledo Cupra. For several laps the pair enjoyed a close battle until Rob's oversteer forced him into a lurid slide at Priory, dropping him to 7th.

"I had a bit of a collision with Muller and from then on she went a bit loose, it just went a bit wrong and it kept getting sideways. The set-up of the car was good to start with for about 3 lap then I had huge oversteer so 7th wasn't too bad. We came here blind without any testing in the dry, it was good in the wet, but that's the trouble with limited testing."

The final race of the day saw Robert reaffirm his standing as a potential race winner with a lightening start into fourth going into the first corner, crossing the line third at the end of the first lap behind Reid and race leader Thompson. By lap five he'd moved up to second behind Reid, as Thompson dropped down the order, with Neal and Chilton pushing hard. As Neal and Chilton barged their way through, Rob then had his team-mate Plato closing, the 2001 champion finally finding a way through two laps from home, and Rob went on to cross the line fourth to move into joint sixth in the points standings.

"I had a good start, the clutch problem we had in the first two races was sorted. I came up into Copse in fourth, and well it's all a bit of a blur really, all of a sudden I found myself in second place. But then Neal came past and pushed me off a bit, so I lost a place to Chilton too, and then Breeze had a go, and I had a go back. Then Jason and I had a good run to the end. It's a bit strange I must say mixing it with the big boys, you know, I've been watching these guys for like six or seven years, and to be out there racing with them is fantastic. Now I'm one of them!"

Race results for Race 1 – 16 laps

1.	Matt Neal	24:08.566
2.	Yvan Muller	24:12.043
3.	Jason Plato	24:14.638
4.	James Thompson	24:16.536
5.	Dan Eaves	24:22.579
6.	Anthony Reid	24:24.752
10.	ROBERT HUFF	24:33.039

Race results for Race 2 – 16 laps

1.	James Thompson	24:04.241
2.	Yvan Muller	24:07.468
3.	Anthony Reid	24:07.693
4.	Kelvin Burt	24:12.558
5.	Colin Turkington	24:13.551
6.	Dan Eaves	24:14.952
7.	ROBERT HUFF	24:16.612

Race results for Race 3 – 16 laps

1.	Tom Chilton	24:03.166
2.	Anthony Reid	24:04.302
3.	Jason Plato	24:08.196
4.	ROBERT HUFF	24:08.730
5.	Carl Breeze	24:14.398
6.	Dan Eaves	24:14.658

Championship points after 9 rounds

1.	James Thompson	93
2.	Yvan Muller	89
3.	Anthony Reid	75
4.	Matt Neal	57
5.	Jason Plato	52
6.=	Dan Eaves	40
6.=	ROBERT HUFF	40