Qualifying: Poles apart for Muller

Muller set the fastest time overall to take pole for the feature race, while his second quickest mark was faster than everyone else's, giving him pole for the sprint race too.

"It was a great session, everything went to plan," said Muller. "The only change I made was the front damper set-up. Now I'm looking forward to tomorrow."

James Thompson got to within 0.002secs of pole for the sprint, but lagged a tenth behind Jason Plato's overall best mark and will start the feature race third.

"It was gutting to be so close to pole for the sprint," said Thompson. "And I can't believe I got balked on my fastest lap of the session [by Dave Pinkney's slow Alfa] when there were only eight cars out there. I was two-tenths up on my best time, which proved that pole was do-able, I just didn't get it done."

Plato, who will start third in the sprint and second in the feature, said: "I'm not happy. We didn't manage to cure the understeer I had this morning. It meant I could only get one lap with the tyres. The initial bite on turn-in is there, then it just pushes into the apex. It's annoying, because I know exactly where we're losing the time."

Phil Bennett will start both races first after a praiseworthy performance, considering the former club racer's opposition. He admits he is still learning how to get the most out of the tyres and the car.

Peugeot had a bad day on its return to the BTCC. Matt Neal was the fastest of the three dayglo yellow 406 Coupes in practice, but didn't complete a lap during qualifying due to a bolt which came off the flywheel. He will start tomorrow's races from the back of the grid. Steve Soper will start both races fifth, but he suffered a power steering failure halfway through the session.

"It's such early days for us," said Peugeot GB's competitions boss Mick Linford. "We're still learning about everything. But we'll get there as soon as humanly possible."

To brighten Peugeot's day, Dan Eaves's car ran faultlessly during qualifying, although he was unable to match Soper's times and will start both races sixth.

Dave Pinkney completed a handful of laps in JSM's new Alfa Romeo 147, although he did manage to spin at Graham Hill Bend and block Thompson's quickest lap. The Alfa should be joined on the grid tomorrow by the Lexus of Kurt Luby, which is being finished-off overnight.

Simon Harrison will start both of the BTC Production races from pole position in his HTML-run Peugeot 306, ahead of team mate Roger Moen, who was 0.286secs slower. Gavin Pyper's Alfa 156 will start third, ahead of the Honda Accord of James Kaye.

Paul O'Neill was an impressive fifth in his Tech-Speed-run Peugeot, the brother of Spice Girl Mel C pipping Mat Jackson's Ford Focus by a tenth, the latter's session interrupted by a trip through the Paddock Hill Bend gravel trap.

Monday's race format will include separate sprint and feature races for the BTC's Touring and Production categories. They will amalgamate for the longer feature race, in which the Touring cars will have to make a mandatory pit stop.


1 Yvan Muller, works Vauxhall Astra Coupe, 49.062s
2 James Thompson, Egg Vauxhall Astra Coupe, 49.064s
3 Jason Plato, works Vauxhall Astra Coupe, 49.086s
4 Phil Bennett, Egg Vauxhall Astra Coupe, 49.689s
5 Steve Soper, works Peugeot 406 Coupe, 50.377s
6 Dan Eaves, works Peugeot 406 Coupe, 50.636s
7 Dave Pinkey, JSM Alfa Romeo 147, 59.591s
8 Matt Neal, works Peugeot 406 Coupe, no time


1 Yvan Muller, works Vauxhall Astra Coupe, 48.942s
2 Jason Plato, works Vauxhall Astra Coupe, 49.093s
3 James Thompson, Egg Vauxhall Astra Coupe, 49.148s
4 Phil Bennett, Egg Vauxhall Astra Coupe, 49.708s
5 Steve Soper, works Peugeot 406 Coupe, 50.414s
6 Dan Eaves, works Peugeot 406 Coupe, 50.604s
7 Dave Pinkey, JSM Alfa Romeo 147, 1m24.805s
8 Matt Neal, works Peugeot 406 Coupe, no time


1 Simon Harrison, Peugeot 306, 51.314s
2 Roger Moen, Peugeot 306, 51.630s
3 Gavin Pyper, Alfa Romeo 156, 51.769s
4 James Kaye, Honda Accord, 52.002s
5 Paul O'Neill, Peugeot 306, 52.102s
6 Mat Jackson, Ford Focus, 52.206s
6 Paul O'Neill, Peugeot 306, 52.631s