Reid storms to first pole of 2000

Anthony Reid took his first pole position of the season, by a whopping six-tenths of a second from Rickard Rydell and Alain Menu.

"It was a good lap," said Reid. "It just shows what having no ballast does for you. I've been second fastest several times and usually I've had ballast and the poleman hasn't.

"The biggest worry though was the weather. I sat there watching rain spots gathering on the windscreen, but fortunately when I went out it was okay."

Honda's Gabriele Tarquini, Reid's sparring partner in the first qualifying session, was a slightly mystified fourth as the Mondeos again showed their speed on cold tyres in the One-Shot Showdown.

"It was a medium lap, no mistakes," he said. "The Fords have a big advantage in these conditions."

Tarquini is nevertheless aiming for a brace of race wins.

"I will try to win both races," said the Italian. "I have a really good car and in the sprint all three in front of me are playing for the title, while I have nothing to lose. So, big attack!"

Tarquini is mistaken though if he thinks all the Mondeo drivers will let him go. Reid's consistency over the season means he has much more to lose than his team mates when scores are dropped, so it's no surprise that he wants to maximise his points score.

"I'm going for two race wins, that has to be the way," said the Scot.

James Thompson had a big slide going into Cascades, but still secured fifth place on the grid for Honda, while Vauxhall's trio all suffered too. Yvan Muller was sixth, Vincent Radermecker seventh and Jason Plato ninth. Radermecker felt he hadn't pushed quite hard enough, while Muller and Plato reckoned they'd caught the circuit when it was at its worst as the drizzle made the surface slightly greasy.

Team Dynamics Nissan man Matt Neal came down to earth with a bump after his Brands Hatch win, all thanks to a testing crash. Neal missed the one-shot session entirely.

Team manager Tim Harvey explained: "Something got dislodged when he went off and we didn't spot it. That's why he was slow this morning and now we're changing the engine. Still the one that's going in was second at Donington and won at Brands, so it's not all bad news."

Class B title hopeful James Kaye was another to miss the session. Kaye had an engine failure before setting a time in the morning and though he had a spare engine, it had no flywheel. The flywheel had been damaged in the earlier blow-up so, Kaye will have to wait for tomorrow's races to show his form.

Dan Eaves in the Peugeot took class pole, as he had in the morning.

"I'm pleased with that," said the young Englishman. "[Team mate] Alan Morrison is obviously very good, so it's always a good test to be up against him."

Eaves' race role though is to support Morrison's title bid and he promised that he will take no prisoners tomorrow. Morrison was second fastest, with the debuting Ford Focus of Simon Harrison third again.



1 Anthony Reid Ford Mondeo 1m22.656s
2 Rickard Rydell Ford Mondeo 1m23.263s
3 Alain Menu Ford Mondeo 1m23.589s
4 Gabriele Tarquini Honda Accord 1m23.664s
5 James Thompson Honda Accord 1m23.921s
6 Yvan Muller Vauxhall Vectra 1m23.971s
7 Vincent Radermecker Vauxhall Vectra 1m24.042s
8 Tom Kristensen Honda Accord 1m24.148s
9 Jason Plato Vauxhall Vectra 1m24.583s
10 Dan Eaves Peugeot 306 1m33.174s
11 Alan Morrison Peugeot 306 1m33.344s
12 Simon Harrison Ford Focus 1m33.451s
13 Gavin Pyper Alfa Romeo 156 1m34.366s
14 Mark Lemmer Honda Accord 1m34.479s
15 Rob Collard Nissan Primera 1m34.627s
16 Tom Ferrier Alfa Romeo 156 1m34.879s
17 Gareth Howell Ford Focus 1m35.551s
18 Marc Nordon Nissan Primera 1m35.670s
19 Andy Middlehurst Nissan Primera 1m36.888s
20 Nick James Honda Integra R 1m37.106s
21 Matt Neal Nissan Primera no time
22 James Kaye Honda Accord no time