Qualifying: Thommo takes pole

Thommo was quick from the off in the 20-minute session, setting the pole mark of 1m28.277s on only his second flying lap. The time beat his old track record and was enough to withstand the challenge from Matt Neal's Honda, who gradually improved to get within 0.2s of his former team-mate.

Thompson said: "I would have liked to have gone quicker, but I made a few mistakes as I was pushing. We made a change to the car after practice, which made it too oversteery through Copse. Still I'm pleased with another pole."

Championship leader Yvan Muller, who is running with maximum success ballast, achieved his aim of a second row slot in third, ahead of the quickest MG of Warren Hughes.

Gavin Pyper took the Independents' class pole with the sixth best time overall. His new team-mate Gareth Howell was a commendable 11th in his first qualifying session of the year, one place ahead of class title leader James Kaye.

Luke Hines took the Production class pole in his Barwell Honda Civic, from Thruxton double winner Tom Boardman and championship leader Michael Bentwood.

J Thompson Vauxhall 1m28.277s
M Neal Honda 1m28.443s
Y Muller Vauxhall 1m28.607s
W Hughes MG 1m28.720s
C Turkington MG 1m28.790s
G Pyper Vauxhall 1m28.794s