Chilton Claims Maiden BTCC Pole

Twenty year old Chilton, who missed the first round at Donington Park three weeks ago, set the fastest time of qualifying for the first of three races tomorrow, with a time of one minute and 17.011 seconds.

"What a result," the young Briton said after the session. "I really didn't think I'd be this fast first time back. But this is a very ballsy circuit and I love driving on the edge.

But the Honda Civic driver downplayed his chances of winning tomorrow, stating: "Winning tomorrow will be tough because the high speeds take a lot out of the tyres over a race distance. The three races should be very exciting but also unpredictable."

Alongside Chilton, on the front row, will be former Champion Jason Plato in the SEAT, having set a time of 1:17.567 - half a second slower than Chilton.

Vauxhall rookie Colin Turkington will start third, having beaten fourth-placed Team Halfords' Dan Eaves by a mere one thousandth of a second.

Championship leaders Vauxhall's Yvan Muller and Team Halfords' Matt Neal, both carrying 'success ballast', were only fifth and sixth fastest respectively.

A disappointed Muller, who is the most successful BTCC driver around Thruxton in the past few years, said after qualifying: "Clearly there is a problem but we don't know what it is so fixing it for the races will be difficult. Obviously, the ballast we have doesn't help but we're still at a bit of a loss."

BTCC Round 2: Thruxton Qualifying Results

Pos  Driver            Team                        Laps  Time
 1.  Tom Chilton       Honda Civic Type-R           9    1:17.011
 2.  Jason Plato       SEAT Toledo Cupra           11    1:17.567 + 0.556
 3.  Colin Turkington  Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch  14    1:17.644 + 0.633
 4.  Dan Eaves         Honda Integra               13    1:17.645 + 0.634
 5.  Yvan Muller       Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch  15    1:17.812 + 0.801
 6.  Matt Neal         Honda Integra               13    1:18.069 + 1.058
 7.  Gavin Smith       Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch  14    1:18.294 + 1.283
 8.  Rob Collard       MG ZS                       10    1:18.376 + 1.365
 9.  James Pickford    SEAT Toledo Cupra           16    1:18.520 + 1.509
10.  Luke Hines        SEAT Toledo Cupra           12    1:18.960 + 1.949
11.  James Kaye        Honda Civic Type-R          12    1:19.208 + 2.197