Chilton thrilled to end pole drought

Chilton's achievement gave Ford its first BTCC pole since 2000 and showed a remarkable reversal of fortune for the new Arena Motorsport-run Focuses, which were permanently stationed near the back of the grid during the first half of the season.

"It's amazing when you consider the position we started the season in," Chilton said. "But this upturn hasn't just happened. Every round since Knockhill [three rounds ago], we've gone up and up, and this is the result.

"All the boys at the team have worked so hard and this is the reward. I'm chuffed to bits for me and everyone at the team."

Chilton warned, however, that Sunday's three races may be a different story, as the team had focused purely on developing a good qualifying set-up during the practice sessions.

"We went really heavy on making sure the car was quick in qualifying, to the extent that I would have been quite disappointed if we didn't make it onto the front row," he added.

"So we're umming and ah-ing a bit about race set-up, and with Jason [Plato] and Fabrizio [Giovanardi] right behind me, you know they're going to have great race pace.

"But if you remember at Rockingham in race two, I had to pit because my front tyres were down to the canvas and then we changed some things for race three and I got on the podium, so we're pretty confident we know which direction to go in."

Arena's day was not all good however. Chilton's team-mate Tom Onslow-Cole was stripped of fifth place on the grid when he failed a ride-height test after 10 minutes of qualifying.

After attempting to get himself back in the top 10, he then failed the same test twice more, leaving him at the back of the grid. An inspection by the team afterwards revealed that damage to the Focus's subframe had caused it to sag while on the circuit during the session.