Muller takes Mondello pole

The Frenchman banged in his top time early in the session and though Anthony Reid's series of quick runs brought the WSR MG man ever closer to the top time, the Scot finished with a time that was just 0.049s too slow to bag the pole.

"It was a quick lap, especially with a heavy car," said Muller after the session. "Though this circuit is not one of the worst for carrying the weight."

It was a good session for Dick Bennetts's independent MG squad as Colin Turkington set the third best time in his ZS, ahead of an out-of-sorts James Thompson in the second Vauxhall.

Thompson had missed most of the second free practice session earlier in the day because of a steering rack problem and simply hadn't found a set-up he was happy with.

"It was a bit of a shocker," he admitted after sticking in a late time which moved him up from eighth. "I had to make a bit of a guess on qualifying set-up. It felt OK - but it just wasn't quick. In the circumstances though I'm quite pleased to have saved fourth."

Jason Plato in the SEAT - allowed to run 25kg lighter this weekend after adjustments to the equivalency formula between BTCC and ETCC-spec cars, was fifth best despite losing even more practice track time than Thompson to an engine problem.

Matt Neal was sixth best in the Team Dynamics Honda, just quicker than an ebullient Shaun Watson Smith in the Proton. The South African was delighted with another personal best qualifying performance. "Again we've made progress," he said. "I'm quite excited."

Yvan Muller Vauxhall 1m46.424s
Anthony Reid MG 1m46.473s
Colin Turkington MG 1m46.609s
James Thompson Vauxhall 1m46.786s
Jason Plato SEAT 1m46.820s
Matt Neal Honda 1m46.990s
Shaun Watson-Smith Proton 1m47.068s
Luke Hines Vauxhall 1m47.330s
Tom Chilton Honda 1m47.656s
Dan Eaves Honda 1m47.804s