Shedden takes pole at Thruxton

The Honda driver gambled on early rain, so went for a quick lap right at the start of the session with the track still in a damp state from an earlier shower, and lapped in 1m24.061s to knock his team-mate Matt Neal off the top spot.

As the rain came down, his position looked secure, although once the rain stopped, Fabrizio Giovanardi became a threat.

The Triple 8 Vauxhall driver did not get onto the track until halfway through the session, but knocked Neal off second spot with a lap 0.256s slower than Shedden's with a minute to go. Try as he did though, the Italian could not find the grip to take pole on his final lap, ensuring that Shedden will start from the front for the first time in two years.

Neal headed the second row and was joined by Andrew Jordan, who recovered from a mid-session spin to put his Eurotech Jordan fourth with a supreme last lap effort as a dry line began to appear again.

Jason Plato's Chevrolet and Tom Chilton's Arena Ford were next up with Mat Jackson the best of the BMWs in seventh place for Motorbase, despite also having an off. Tom Onslow-Cole put the second Arena Ford in eighth, one place ahead of debutant Phil Glew's Triple 8 Vauxhall.

Chevrolet's Alex MacDowall looked to have done enough for sixth on the grid, but had his times from the first 20 minutes of the session deleted after he failed a ride height test. He will start 15th.

Rob Collard, who has replaced series champion Colin Turkington at WSR BMW, was 12th quickest, five places ahead of his team-mate Andy Neate.

Pos  Driver               Car         Time       Gap
 1.  Gordon Shedden       Honda       1m24.061s
 2.  Fabrizio Giovanardi  Vauxhall    1m24.317s  + 0.256s
 3.  Matt Neal            Honda       1m24.614s  + 0.553s
 4.  Andrew Jordan        Vauxhall    1m24.833s  + 0.772s
 5.  Jason Plato          Chevrolet   1m24.868s  + 0.807s
 6.  Tom Chilton          Ford        1m25.017s  + 0.956s
 7.  Mat Jackson          BMW         1m25.289s  + 1.228s
 8.  Tom Onslow-Cole      Ford        1m25.504s  + 1.443s
 9.  Phil Glew            Vauxhall    1m25.563s  + 1.502s
10.  Paul O'Neill         Honda       1m25.832s  + 1.771s
11.  Steven Kane          BMW         1m25.867s  + 1.806s
12.  Rob Collard          BMW         1m25.894s  + 1.833s
13.  David Pinkney        Vauxhall    1m26.362s  + 2.301s
14.  Tom Boardman         SEAT        1m26.369s  + 2.308s
15.  Alex MacDowall       Chevrolet   1m26.967s  + 2.906s
16.  Martin Johnson       Vauxhall    1m27.292s  + 3.231s
17.  Andy Neate           BMW         1m28.270s  + 4.209s
18.  Shaun Hollamby       Volkswagen  1m28.309s  + 4.248s
19.  Matt Hamilton        Honda       1m29.045s  + 4.984s
20.  John George          Honda       1m29.336s  + 5.275s