Brands Hatch BTCC: Andrew Jordan grabs first pole of 2014
Reigning champion Andrew Jordan has qualified on pole for the first British Touring Car round of the season at Brands Hatch, as champions filled the top five
Free practice pacesetter Jason Plato narrowly led the field after the first runs, his 48.300s pushing the new Honda Civic Tourers of Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden down to second and third respectively.
Plato's MG6 then recorded another two faster laps, leaving the benchmark at 48.240s until the final five minutes of qualifying.
Then Jordan, who had held fourth spot for much of the session, improved twice in his Eurotech Honda Civic. The second lap pipped Plato to pole with 48.228s.
"I didn't get the best out of it at the right time," admitted Plato. "There's nothing in it."
A late effort from 2009 champion Colin Turkington netted third, while Neal and Shedden completed the top five thanks to their earlier runs.
BTCC rookie Tom Ingram was an impressive sixth in his Speedworks Toyota Avensis with a time set shortly after the halfway mark.
Aron Smith narrowly led former champion Alain Menu as the BMR VW Passats filled seventh and eighth spots.
Mat Jackson managed to get his Motorbase Ford Focus into the top 10, just ahead of WSR's Rob Collard, but 2007-2008 champion Fabrizio Giovanardi could only manage 18th.
Former British F3 champion Marc Hynes had a engine change in his Triple Eight-run MG6 before qualifying and ended up 16th, within 0.5s of pole.
Pos Driver Car Time Gap Laps 1. Andrew Jordan Eurotech Honda 48.228s 21 2. Jason Plato MG 48.240s +0.012s 24 3. Colin Turkington WSR BMW 48.298s +0.070s 26 4. Matt Neal Honda 48.321s +0.093s 27 5. Gordon Shedden Honda 48.371s +0.143s 27 6. Tom Ingram Speedworks Toyota 48.404s +0.176s 27 7. Aron Smith BMR VW 48.419s +0.191s 24 8. Alain Menu BMR VW 48.447s +0.219s 21 9. Mat Jackson Motorbase Ford 48.479s +0.251s 29 10. Rob Collard WSR BMW 48.487s +0.259s 30 11. Rob Austin RAR Audi 48.488s +0.260s 30 12. Sam Tordoff MG 48.506s +0.278s 23 13. Nick Foster WSR BMW 48.542s +0.314s 31 14. Adam Morgan Ciceley Mercedes 48.590s +0.362s 26 15. Jack Goff BMR Vauxhall 48.696s +0.468s 26 16. Marc Hynes MG 48.701s +0.473s 27 17. Martin Depper Eurotech Honda 48.842s +0.614s 27 18. Fabrizio Giovanardi Motorbase Ford 48.884s +0.656s 27 19. James Cole UA Toyota 48.921s +0.693s 26 20. Dave Newsham AmD Ford 48.936s +0.708s 18 21. Hunter Abbott RAR Audi 49.001s +0.773s 28 22. Warren Scott BMR Vauxhall 49.034s +0.806s 22 23. Glynn Geddie UA Toyota 49.053s +0.825s 23 24. Lea Wood Houseman Toyota 49.479s +1.251s 30 25. Simon Belcher Speedworks Toyota 49.733s +1.505s 25 26. Jack Clarke Motorbase Ford 49.767s +1.539s 15 27. Aiden Moffat Moffat Chevrolet 50.242s +2.014s 26 28. Robb Holland Rotek Audi 50.369s +2.141s 25 29. Olile Jackson Welch Proton 50.487s +2.259s 28 30. Chris Stockton BTC Chevrolet
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