Qualifying: Thommo on top

Thompson recorded his pole-winning effort of 1m26.446s on his second flying lap, but had an anxious wait as the Honda Civic Type-Rs made late improvements. Alan Morrison initially took the fight to the Vauxhall driver, but he was demoted to third when Matt Neal came within 0.137s of displacing Thommo in the final minutes.

Tom Chilton compounded Honda's strong showing by stealing fourth - his best performance of the season - on his last flying lap. Paul O'Neill took fifth, leaving championship leader Yvan Muller back in sixth in his success ballast-heavy Astra.

Anthony Reid led the MG charge in seventh, one place ahead of Warren Hughes. Rob Collard was the top Independent runner in ninth. Dan Eaves had his most competitive session of the year so far to take 11th, but new VLR Peugeot team-mate Daniel Buxton was forced to skip qualifying after an oil pump failed. He will start from the back of the grid alongside Proton's Phil Bennett, who had his times disallowed for failing a ride-height check.

Michael Bentwood claimed Production class pole from Tom Boardman's Peugeot 307. Class newboys Jason Hughes and Richard Marsh round out the field.

James Thompson Vauxhall 1m26.446s
Matt Neal Honda 1m26.583s
Alan Morrison Honda 1m26.655s
Tom Chilton Honda 1m26.844s
Paul O'Neill Vauxhall 1m26.932s
Yvan Muller Vauxhall 1m26.970s