Jones delighted with third on the grid

The Team Air-Cool SEAT driver overcame an engine problem in practice earlier in the day to put his Leon on the second row, ahead of the works cars of Jason Plato and Darren Turner.

"I really don't know where that came from," he told autosport.com. "It wasn't wet enough for wets or dry enough for slicks but I was determined not to get caught out. As soon as I went out on wets I came back in, put slicks on, and the car felt good."

Jones was surprised to be so high up the grid after a troubled practice session just a few hours before qualifying.

"We had an engine problem in qualifying and the dashboard lit up like a Christmas tree. I switched it off rather than waiting for it to blow, got a tow back, and the team put another engine in. The result is a credit to the team to get it prepared in such a short space of time."

He was especially pleased to out-qualify the works SEATs and hopes to keep them behind for as long as possible during the first race tomorrow morning.

"It's hard to keep up with them, I tried at one point but you just can't do it. It's great to be in front of them. They've had limited testing but that's more than I've had. Although I'm sure once they get their car sorted it will be difficult to beat them.

"At racing speed they'll be very fast so I have to make the best start I can and try to keep position. It depends how consistent we can be during the race because the tyres will be a big issue. The track wears them quite badly so you really have to manage them through the race."