NORTHAMPTONSHIRE will twice host rounds of Britain's premier motor racing series - the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship - in 2008 with fixtures at the Rockingham and Silverstone circuits having been confirmed.

Rockingham, with its unique banked track, will stage the second of the BTCC's ten meetings on Sunday, April 13. The Corby circuit proved a popular venue with the public when it regained a slot on the BTCC schedule for 2007, its event in April attracting a massive 35,000-strong crowd.

Silverstone, home to the British Formula 1 Grand Prix, was missing from the BTCC's 2007 calendar, but has been reinstated for next year when it will be the venue for the championship's penultimate rounds on Sunday, August 31. Its most recent BTCC event, in 2006, drew a mighty 33,000 audience.

Next year the BTCC will celebrate its 50th anniversary. Since its formation in 1958 it has gone on to firmly establish itself as the UK's most popular motor sport attraction with a worldwide following.

BTCC series director Alan Gow said: "I am delighted that Silverstone is able to return and also that Rockingham will again be a part of our calendar following its superb event earlier this season. It means that all of the UK's top race circuits can join us in celebrating half a century of BTCC."

Click here to see our video report of Martin Brundle exploring the effects of driving an Oxfordshire-built Williams F1 car.