15,000 attend Milton Keynes display.

An estimated 15,000 people packed into central Milton Keynes last night as the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship put on its second spectacular street display of the season ahead of this weekends race meeting at Silverstone.

Seven BTCC drivers, including Matt Neal, Yvan Muller and Jason Plato, wowed the crowds that lined Avebury Boulevard next to the Xscape leisure dome, while drivers from the supporting BMW, Porsche, Renault and SEAT championships were also in action.

The event received live regional television coverage on ITV outlets Anglia and Central South as well as in major regional newspapers and national magazines Auto Express and CAR.

Throughout the day there was significant build-up to the event on the region's biggest radio stations, Horizon FM and BBC Three Counties, with presenters from the former among the lucky media who experienced a high-speed passenger ride alongside Muller in Vauxhall's unique two-seater Astra Sport Hatch BTCC car.

The evening event followed a day-time static display of BTCC and support series cars inside Milton Keynes' enormous shopping hall thecentre:mk.

"This event has been a stunning success and is just reward for all the hard effort that has gone into it behind the scenes, not just from the BTCC but also Milton Keynes Council, the city's shopping hall thecentre:mk and Silverstone," BTCC series director Alan Gow said. "The reaction from the crowds was amazing and even when it rained half way through they stayed on to the end. Our teams, drivers, sponsors, Milton Keynes and Silverstone all benefited tremendously.

"Importantly, the BTCC gained thousands more fans last night and we now look forward to a terrific weekend of racing at Silverstone."

Milton Keynes and Silverstone also expressed their delight at last night's BTCC event.

"It was fantastic to see around 15,000 people gathered to enjoy the fun in the city and the feedback already has been staggering," Milton Keynes' city centre manager Kay Greenhalgh said. "Milton Keynes has proved it has enthusiastic people and companies who are excellent in pooling their resources and we certainly look forward to hosting similar events with the BTCC in future."

"The atmosphere in Milton Keynes last night was fantastic and the crowds were obviously enjoying themselves," Silverstone Circuits managing director Richard Phillips added. "This event took Silverstone and the BTCC to a new audience and we were inundated with enquiries about this weekend's race meeting.

"We look forward to welcoming those who are coming to Silverstone at the weekend. I am sure they will have an extremely enjoyable time."