Qualifying: Plato scoops poles

"I'm pleased for my guys," said Plato, "because we sat down and came up with a new way of working and it's going really well. We've got a good rapport and the pace is there so we've got to goon working at it."

As ever the Vauxhalls filled all the top spots with Muller taking second on the grid for the feature and Phil Bennett the other front row slot for the sprint. Bennett though will not find Plato a happy row-companion tonight after the championship leader blamed Team Egg's rookie for an off at Riches.

"I'm well displeased with Bennett," said Plato. "He came out of the pits in front of me cut the corner and dragged loads of muck onto the track. I was off, up on two wheels in the field and almost rolled it. There's no room for dirty tricks. We've got a great atmosphere in the team and we don't need a bad apple in there."

Bennett, who fell out with Peugeot's Steve Soper at Knockhill, wasn't about to be browbeaten by his more experienced colleague. "I'm not interested," he said. "The thing you have to understand about Jason is that when he's on pole, it's him who's fantastic, but when he's not it's because others have ****ed him up."

Muller was also unhappy with the behaviour of his fellow drivers, though he wasn't naming names. The Frenchman felt that no less than three of his best laps had been ruined by drivers pulling dirt on to the circuit at Riches. He had to be content with a second and a third fastest time as Bennett mirrored his performance.

James Thompson was the fourth Astra man on both occasions, unhappy with his set-up. "We're struggling to find a set-up for him," admitted team boss Ian Harrison.

Behind the Astras the Peugeots did battle with the singleton Lexus. Thomas Erdos put the IS200 fifth on the grid for the feature, despite only getting out for the last half of the session after the ABG Motorsport crew changed a wilting engine. In the sprint Erdos was behind the two works Peugeots on time and will start at the back of the BTCT field because of his engine change.

At Peugeot it was business as usual. "It's no worse," said Steve Soper, before reluctantly repeating the 406 mantra: "We're pretty sure we know what the problem is now."

JS Motorsport's Alfa squad was briefly up to two cars again, for Tim Harvey and Tom Ferrier. Harvey's car went no further than the first free practice session, when an engine problem intervened to restrict the 1992 champion to team manager duties only. Ferrier's car did little running thanks to misfires, but Harvey is confident that it will go better come the races.

Simon Harrison overcame the weight of a near full load of success ballast to take the BTC Production pole. "It's my home track, because I'm originally from Cambridge," said the HTML Peugeot 306 pilot. "So that's nice, but it's the two points I'm interested in, that's all that really matters."

The 306's qualifying pace has always been good, but Harrison reckons recent set-up changes have now made the car a better proposition over a race distance. "I'm happy. It should be strong," he said.

Simon Graves was second fastest in the Barwell Honda. He was happy enough with his session, feeling that every race his own form is improving. He admitted that a better lap might have been possible, but still felt Harrison's time was out of reach.

Gavin Pyper in the Alfa 156 and Gareth Howell in the Ford Focus made it four different cars in the top four, ahead of points leader James Kaye's Honda. Kaye had a run-in with Roger Moen's 306 early in the session and reckoned the Accord was out of true thereafter.


1 Jason Plato (Vauxhall) 1m13.131s
2 Phil Bennett (Vauxhall) 1m13.176s
3 Yvan Muller (Vauxhall) 1m13.194s
4 James Thompson (Vauxhall) 1m13.464s
5 Steve Soper (Peugeot) 1m14.127s
6 Dan Eaves (Peugeot) 1m14.192s
7 Thomas Erdos (Lexus) 1m14.465s
8 Tom Ferrier (Alfa Romeo) 1m29.425s
9 Sir Jack Sears (Ford Galaxie) 9m12.645s


1 Jason Plato (Vauxhall) 1m13.032s
2 Yvan Muller (Vauxhall) 1m13.227s
3 Phil Bennett (Vauxhall) 1m13.245s
4 James Thompson (Vauxhall) 1m13.546s
5 Thomas Erdos (Lexus) 1m14.176s
6 Dan Eaves (Peugeot) 1m14.218s
7 Steve Soper (Peugeot) 1m14.303s
8 Tom Ferrier (Alfa Romeo) 1m16.059s
9 Robin Brundle (Metro Turbo) 7m36.983s


1 Simon Harrison (Peugeot P) 1m15.765s
2 Simon Graves (Honda P) 1m16.150s
3 Gavin Pyper (Alfa Romeo P) 1m16.335s
4 Gareth Howell (Ford P) 1m16.882s
5 James Kaye (Honda P) 1m16.996s
6 Roger Moen (Peugeot P) 1m17.004s