Dave Newsham and ES Racing take pole for British Touring Car opener at Brands Hatch
Dave Newsham will start on pole for Sunday's opening British Touring Car round at Brands Hatch after topping qualifying
The Team ES Racing Vauxhall Vectra driver set a time of 48.483s in the first third of the session. He could not improve thereafter - and had an off - but nobody could beat his early mark.
Reigning champion Matt Neal qualified the new NGTC Honda Civic in second with a late run of 48.615s.
Rob Collard (WSR BMW) and Andrew Jordan (Eurotech Honda Civic) were third and fourth after setting exactly the same time. Jordan's last run was spoiled by Newsham's team-mate, Chris James, as the session ended.
Thanks to electrical issues throughout the day, Gordon Shedden only made it out for the last 10 minutes. He managed a time good enough for fifth - 48.745s - but that was disallowed for going over the track limits. He will therefore start ninth.
Jason Plato was also late out in his new works MG6, but still recorded a sub-49s lap to qualify sixth.
Rob Austin's Audi and Frank Wrathall's Toyota were next, while early pacesetter Nick Foster made it three WSR BMWs in the top 10.
BTCC debutant Adam Morgan was 13th quickest in his Speedworks Motorsport Toyota.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Dave Newsham ES Vauxhall 48.483s 2. Matt Neal Dynamics Honda 48.615s + 0.132s 3. Rob Collard WSR BMW 48.698s + 0.215s 4. Andrew Jordan Eurotech Honda 48.698s + 0.215s 5. Tom Onslow-Cole WSR BMW 48.765s + 0.282s 6. Jason Plato Triple 8 MG 48.868s + 0.385s 7. Rob Austin Austin Audi 48.883s + 0.400s 8. Frank Wrathall Dynojet Toyota 48.963s + 0.480s 9. Gordon Shedden Dynamics Honda 49.022s + 0.539s 10. Nick Foster WSR BMW 49.078s + 0.595s 11. Mat Jackson Motorbase Ford 49.100s + 0.617s 12. Jeff Smith Eurotech Honda 49.166s + 0.683s 13. Adam Morgan Speedworks Toyota 49.176s + 0.693s 14. Aron Smith Motorbase Ford 49.257s + 0.774s 15. Lea Wood Wood Vauxhall 49.421s + 0.938s 16. Ollie Jackson AmD Volkswagen 49.604s + 1.121s 17. Liam Griffin Motorbase Ford 49.623s + 1.140s 18. Chris James ES Vauxhall 49.861s + 1.378s 19. Andy Neate Triple 8 MG 50.126s + 1.643s 20. Tony Gilham Gilham Honda 50.617s + 2.134s 21. Tony Hughes Speedworks Toyota 52.301s + 3.818s 22. Daniel Welch Welch Proton 1m02.449s + 13.966s 23. John Thorne Thorney Vauxhall
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