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Turkington leads all-BMW front row

Colin Turkington has taken pole position for the first of tomorrow's three British Touring Car Championship races at Snetterton

The Team RAC driver will line up alongside his teammate, rookie Tom Onslow-Cole, as the BMW pair secured the front row. Behind them will start the Team Dynamics Honda Civic of Gordon Shedden in third, with Vauxhall's Tom Chilton, in the Vectra, taking fourth.

Turkington, recording his third pole position of the season, had dominated the session and set a fastest time of 1:12.290 in his BMW 320si.

"It's a fantastic result for Team RAC, at our adopted home circuit," he said. "The car is strong everywhere on the track. We've been competitive all day and just made a few little improvements and they've all come together for qualifying."

The Northern Irishman, who has won twice already this year, said he was hoping for a strong performance tomorrow.

"I'd like to be able to win," he said. "We've got good pace in the car and it's there over the full race distance."

Onslow-Cole set a time just 0.190 seconds off his teammate to record his best qualifying result in the BTCC - his previous highest having been seventh in the first two rounds.

"It's a fantastic result," said Onlsow-Cole. "Me and Colin are on different set-ups but his is just a fraction better. I'll be at work here in the office tonight and then have a long debrief."

Current drivers' title leader Jason Plato could only manage eighth fastest in his heavily-ballasted SEAT Leon, while his title rival Fabrizio Giovanardi put his Vauxhall Vectra into fifth place.

Turkington's and Onslow-Cole's performances couldn't have been better for RAC, which has its head office in nearby Norwich and is sponsoring this weekend's event.

Pos  Driver               Car         Time
 1.  Colin Turkington     BMW         1:12.290
 2.  Tom Onslow-Cole      BMW         1:12.480  + 0.190
 3.  Gordon Shedden       Honda       1:12.598  + 0.308
 4.  Tom Chilton          Vauxhall    1:12.650  + 0.360
 5.  Fabrizio Giovanardi  Vauxhall    1:12.695  + 0.405
 6.  Darren Turner        SEAT        1:12.698  + 0.408
 7.  Matt Neal            Honda       1:12.827  + 0.537
 8.  Jason Plato          SEAT        1:12.840  + 0.550
 9.  Mat Jackson          BMW         1:12.988  + 0.698
10.  Mike Jordan          Honda       1:12.988  + 0.698
11.  Matt Allison         SEAT        1:13.134  + 0.844
12.  Jason Hughes         MG          1:13.309  + 1.019
13.  Eoin Murray          Alfa Romeo  1:13.339  + 1.049
14.  Tom Ferrier          SEAT        1:13.345  + 1.055
15.  David Pinkney        Alfa Romeo  1:13.717  + 1.427
16.  John George          Honda       1:13.767  + 1.477
17.  Erkut Kizilirmak     Vauxhall    1:14.292  + 2.002
18.  Richard Marsh        Alfa Romeo  1:14.503  + 2.213
19.  Simon Blanckley      Honda       1:14.739  + 2.449
20.  Fiona Leggate        MG          1:14.892  + 2.602
21.  Martyn Bell          BMW         1:15.878  + 3.588
22.  Rick Kerry           BMW         1:23.094  + 10.804
23.  Chris Stockton       Lexus

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