Thompson back to the front

Donington Park, back in April, James Thompson won the Sprint race. TheHonda Accord driver has set himself up for a repeat performance by taking
pole for tomorrow's race. Thompson has struggled to get his Accord on the pace since that victory back in April.

Thompson was quickest in the One-Shot Showdown, although he was less than
0.03s quicker than his nearest rival. Second was the Volvo S40 of Rickard
Rydell, the reigning champion following up his fourth place in the earlier
Feature qualifying session.

Third and fourth went to the Nissan Primera duo of Laurent Aiello and David
Leslie. Remarkably, those two set identical lap times, within 0.1s of pole.

Aiello stands to win £250,000 tomorrow if he wins both races, the prize for taking four consecutive victories, but will have a fight on his hands. The runaway championship leader will start both races from the second row of the grid.

Top Independent driver was, yet again, Matt Neal; he put his Nissan Primera
on sixth. He is well clear of Lee Brookes, who could do no better than 13th
in his Honda Accord.

Yet again a Vauxhall Vectra failed the post-run ride-height check;
following Yvan Muller's failure this morning, this time it was John
Cleland's turn. He will start tomorrow's 15-lap Sprint race from the back
of the grid.

Qualifying times for the Sprint Race: