Qual: Thommo grabs pole

As expected, it was a works Vauxhall benefit at the head of the field, with Thompson further lowering the fastest ever lap time recorded at Thruxton in the BTCC's latest guise. His 1m16.747s was over a tenth quicker than Muller managed in morning practice.

"Last year I was strong in qualifying, with six out of 10 poles, and this is definitely the place to start the new season," said Thompson. "I was slower than Yvan in free practice, but he was in qualifying trim and I wanted to concentrate on race set-up, which is where I struggled last year, particularly at Thruxton."

Although Anthony Reid proved to be the best of the rest for the private WSR MG outfit, his lap was over six-tenths in arrears of the pace of the leading Vauxhalls. He was run close by the Team Dynamics Honda Civic of Matt Neal, who in turn was just a tenth clear of the Arena-run Honda of Tom Chilton and the second MG of Colin Turkington.

Jason Plato was the leading ETCC-spec car, qualifying eighth in his SEAT just behind the third Vauxhall of Michael Bentwood. Another Triple 8 Vauxhall, that of Luke Hines, was ninth fastest, ahead of Dan Eaves' Team Dynamics Honda.

The grid is now set for tomorrow's first round, but the new format means that race results will set the line-up for rounds two and three - so expect fireworks.


1 James Thompson, Vauxhall Astra Coupe, 1m16.747s
2 Yvan Muller, Vauxhall Astra Coupe, 1m16.800s
3 Anthony Reid, MG ZS, 1m17.385s
4 Matt Neal, Honda Civic Type-R, 1m17.479s
5 Tom Chilton, Honda Civic Type-R, 1m17.593s
6 Colin Turkington, MG ZS, 1m17.654s
7 Michael Bentwood, Vauxhall Astra Coupe, 1m17.787s
8 Jason Plato, SEAT Toledo Cupra, 1m17.845s
9 Luke Hines, Vauxhall Astra Coupe, 1m17.928s
10 Dan Eaves, Honda Civic, 1m18.105s