Maiden BTCC pole for Onslow-Cole

The 20-year-old Vauxhall driver, who had dominated both practice sessions, continued to show quick pace as he lapped the circuit in 1:12.140 midway through the session and hold on for the remaining 15 minutes.

So great was his advantage that he was able to sit in the pits for the final few minutes while his rivals took to the track to try and knock him off the top spot.

SEAT's Jason Plato joined Onslow-Cole on the front row with a lap just 0.079 seconds slower, while Colin Turkington headed the second row in his Team RAC BMW, despite a spin at the Old Hairpin.

Darren Turner completed row two in the second SEAT, but stopped on the circuit on his final lap. Former double champion Matt Neal was sixth for Vauxhall, splitting the Team Halfords Hondas of Gordon Shedden and Tom Chilton.

Champion Fabrizio Giovanardi lost sixth place on the grid when all his times for the first 20 minutes were disallowed after he failed a ride height test. He recovered to eighth in his Vauxhall.

Matt Allison and Harry Vaulkhard completed the top 10 in his Robertshaw Chevrolet, giving the rookie team their best qualifying session of the season, the team benefiting from a 20 kilo weight reduction for this round.

There was disappointment for some of the other BMW runners though as the ballast-stricken Mat Jackson was only 14th fastest and Stephen Jelley 11th after he failed to stop at the weighbridge early in the session.

Michael Doyle spun his In-Tune Racing Honda at the Old Hairpin and was hit by John George's TH Motorsport example in the process, ending both drivers' session with damage.

Alan Taylor spun his Robertshaw Honda at the Old Hairpin, ending up in the barriers with light damage, while Rob Collard failed to set a time as his Motorbase BMW was afflicted by gearbox problems.

Pos Driver                 Car           Time          Gap
 1. Tom Onslow-Cole        Vauxhall      1:12.140       
 2. Jason Plato            SEAT          1:12.219   +0.079 
 3. Colin Turkington       BMW           1:12.323   +0.183
 4. Darren Turner          SEAT          1:12.599   +0.459 
 5. Gordon Shedden         Honda         1:12.601   +0.461 
 6. Matt Neal              Vauxhall      1:12.736   +0.596 
 7. Tom Chilton            Honda         1:12.771   +0.631 
 8. Fabrizio Giovanardi    Vauxhall      1:12.797   +0.657 
 9. Matt Allison           Chevrolet     1:12.845   +0.705 
10. Harry Vaulkhard        Chevrolet     1:13.089   +0.949 
11. Stephen Jelley         BMW           1:13.168   +1.028 
12. Andrew Jordan          Honda         1:13.232   +1.092 
13. Adam Jones             SEAT          1:13.357   +1.217 
14. Mat Jackson            BMW           1:13.481   +1.341
15. Mike Jordan            Honda         1:13.519   +1.379 
16. Steven Kane            BMW           1:13.627   +1.487 
17. Jason Hughes           Honda         1:13.796   +1.656 
18. Alan Taylor            Honda         1:14.585   +2.445 
19. Chris Stockton         SEAT          1:14.610   +2.470 
20. Erkut Kizilirmak       Vauxhall      1:14.680   +2.540 
21. Martyn Bell            Vauxhall      1:14.699   +2.559 
22. Stuart Oliver          SEAT          1:15.155   +3.015 
23. Michael Doyle          Honda         1:15.270   +3.130 
24. John George            Honda         1:15.799   +3.659 
25. Rob Collard            BMW           1:20.920   +8.780