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Another pole for Tarquini

Gabriele Tarquini did the pole double at Donington, as he took full advantage of the last slot in the One-Shot Showdown, earned earlier in the day, to set the fastest time on a surface which was wet at the start of the session, but dried during the course of it.

"Maybe that's too much for me," joked Tarquini, who has now become the only driver other than Rickard Rydell to notch up two poles in a meeting so far this year.

"I was in the best position to take pole, but it's not so simple. Okay, it's normal if you take pole in that situation, but if you make a little mistake and fail, you look really stupid."

The 1994 champion is now looking forward to tomorrow's races.

"It's too early to talk about two wins," he insisted, "but I'm in the best place for both races. The start will be important, but pole is not crucial here. If you're faster than another car, you can overtake here."

The times were pretty much dictated by the conditions, with lap times dropping consistently through the session. That meant Ford's Anthony Reid and independent Nissan man Matt Neal filling grid slots two and three again. Reid is another who is determined to win tomorrow, to break his 2000 duck.

"Trying to get my first win of the year is getting a bit like going to the dentist to have a wisdom tooth out," the Scot reckoned, "but my pace has been good all year, especially my race pace, so tomorrow just could be the day."

The man who lost out was Rydell, who missed his slot due to a team error and so will have to start tomorrow's sprint race at the back. Points leader Alain Menu will start the sprint race sixth, but thinks the 40kg success ballast he must carry after winning the Snetterton night race will keep him out of the winners' circle.

"It's a damage limitation exercise here," said the Swiss. "The weight really hurts, especially out of the Melbourne hairpin. I'm just looking to get as many points as possible, because every point is going to count in this championship."

Yvan Muller nipped ahead of team mate Jason Plato to be seventh fastest.

"I was not at my best," admitted Plato. "Let's just say my talent deserted me once I took to the track."

Series returnee David Leslie suffered from being the first car on the circuit, but the PRO Motorsport Nissan was running well again after its gearbox failure in the first session and he completed the top 10 times.

James Kaye again led the way in Class B, to make it a double, double pole for the Honda Accord. Kaye set his time in a wild lap with slicks fitted to the front wheels and wets at the rear.

Wets all-round proved the wrong answer for Alan Morrison in the Peugeot, but he was still second quickest in class.




1 Gabriele Tarquini Honda Accord 1m38.061s
2 Anthony Reid Ford Mondeo 1m38.387s
3 Matt Neal Nissan Primera 1m39.273s
4 James Thompson Honda Accord 1m39.733s
5 Tom Kristensen Honda Accord 1m40.338s
6 Alain Menu Ford Mondeo 1m41.125s
7 Yvan Muller Vauxhall Vectra 1m41.754s
8 Jason Plato Vauxhall Vectra 1m42.805s
9 Vincent Radermecker Vauxhall Vectra 1m43.919s
10 David Leslie Nissan Primera 1m48.495s
11 James Kaye Honda Accord 1m58.999s
12 Alan Morrison Peugeot 306 2m02.867s
13 Marc Nordon Nissan Primera 2m03.067s
14 Rob Collard Nissan Primera 2m04.212s
15 Mark Lemmer Honda Integra R 2m05.020s
16 Lee Linford Peugeot 306 2m06.133s
17 Nick James Honda Integra R 2m06.277s

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