Neal on Mondello pole with record

The reigning champion set a fastest time of 1:45.333 in his Team Dynamics Honda Integra-R to claim his first pole position of the season.

Jason Plato, carrying 18kg of ballast by dint of his fourth position in the standings, will start alongside Neal on the front row for SEAT after setting a mark just 0.055 seconds slower.

"I'm over the moon," said Neal. "I didn't know whether we'd see a pole this year the way it has been going, but it's a nice way to bounce back after the accident at Brands Hatch.

"We are light, so we should have been close to the front - it's a question of what the weather's going to do and how long we can keep those yellow things behind us"

Plato's SEAT teammate, championship leader James Thompson, will start third on the grid after struggling to overcome his 45kg ballast penalty alongside the second Dynamics Integra of Mondello newcomer Gordon Shedden.

Northern Irishman Colin Turkington was the faster of the two RAC-backed MG ZSs in fifth on the grid alongside the lead Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch of Italian Fabrizio Giovanardi.

It was a superb effort from the Italian former European Touring Car Champion, who came into qualifying with only 15 laps of the testing 2.2-mile circuit under his belt and was forced to switch to a new engine before qualifying.

The Vauxhalls of Tom Chilton and Gavin Smith will start seventh and ninth, sandwiching the second MG of Rob Collard, with David Pinkney completing the top ten in his Motorbase Performance-run Integra.

Martyn Bell will start from the back of the grid after a session-stopping off in the early stages of the session in his Geoff Steel Racing-run BMW 320i after "trying to go too quick too soon."

He was not the only driver to have an off during the session, with Tech-Speed Motorsport's Fiona Leggate also bringing the qualifying session to a temporary halt with an off at turn four.

Pos  Driver               Make                  Time              Laps
 1.  Matt Neal            Honda Integra         1:45.333           15
 2.  Jason Plato          SEAT Leon             1:45.388 + 0.055   13
 3.  James Thompson       SEAT Leon             1:45.494 + 0.161   14
 4.  Gordon Shedden       Honda Integra         1:45.526 + 0.193   13
 5.  Colin Turkington     MG ZS                 1:45.568 + 0.235   15
 6.  Fabrizio Giovanardi  Vauxhall Astra Sport  1:45.960 + 0.627    7
 7.  Tom Chilton          Vauxhall Astra Sport  1:46.009 + 0.676   11
 8.  Robert Collard       MG ZS                 1:46.307 + 0.974   15
 9.  Gavin Smith          Vauxhall Astra Sport  1:46.406 + 1.073   14
10.  David Pinkney        Honda Integra         1:46.890 + 1.557   15
11.  Mike Jordan          Honda Integra         1:46.966 + 1.633   15
12.  James Kaye           Honda Civic Type R    1:47.047 + 1.714   12
13.  Mark Proctor         Honda Civic Type R    1:48.260 + 2.927   13
14.  Fiona Leggate        Vauxhall Astra Coupe  1:48.628 + 3.295    9
15.  Jason Hughes         MG ZS                 1:48.650 + 3.317   14
16.  Martyn Bell          BMW 320i E46          1:53.054 + 7.721    2