EAVES TAKES FIRST BTCC POLE POSITION AT BRANDS HATCH
Dan Eaves has taken pole position for the first of tomorrow’s
(Sunday) three Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship
races at Brands Hatch. Eaves, driving a Team Halfords Honda
Integra, broke the qualifying lap record in a time of 1m32.586s
to secure the first pole of his BTCC career.
Second and third were Vauxhall team-mates Gavin Smith and
Yvan Muller. Eaves’ team-mate Matt Neal, the current
championship leader and favourite to clinch his first ever
BTCC title tomorrow ahead of Muller, qualified fifth fastest.
Eaves, who has a chance of overhauling Muller for second
in the final standings, was an impressive 0.4s clear of the
field. The 30-year-old said: "It’s great to get
my first BTCC pole on such a famous circuit, but to be honest
I didn’t have to push that hard. I was fastest in first
practice so knew the car’s set-up was good. In qualifying,
I felt comfortable driving at that pace. Now I just want to
go out and win, but you never know … Yvan is third on
the grid and always makes good starts."
For Irishman Smith, second was by far the best qualifying
result of his rookie BTCC season. Muller, the only driver
who can stop Neal from becoming champion, was content with
third but will be settling for nothing less than a win tomorrow
as he tries to erase the Briton’s sizeable 30-point
advantage. Tomorrow’s first race will be 2003 champion
Muller’s 200th in the BTCC. A victory for Muller, Smith
or fellow Vauxhall driver Colin Turkington would also be the
Luton marque’s 100th BTCC race win.
Muller, the race lap record holder around Brands’ full-length
Grand Prix circuit, said: “Unfortunately, an electrical
problem with my car in second practice meant we lost time
to fine-tune the set-up, so it wasn’t exactly how I
wanted it. But I’m quite happy because we never go for
a qualifying set-up. We always work on getting the car right
for the race. Matt is behind me so that’s quite encouraging.”
Fourth fastest in qualifying was SEAT’s Jason Plato
, but the 2001 champion has found himself relegated to tenth
overall after receiving a six-place grid penalty as punishment
for a driving indiscretion in the previous round at Silverstone.
That meant that Team Halfords’ Gareth Howell, from nearby
Beckenham the local star driver to Brands, and Neal were promoted
to fourth and fifth places on tomorrow's grid.
Neal goes into tomorrow’s three races on the verge
of his first ever BTCC title since he joined Britain ’s
premier motor racing championship 14 years ago. If he lifts
the crown, he and his family-run Team Halfords squad –
run by his father Steve Neal – will become the first
independent, non-manufacturer-backed team to achieve the feat
since Will Hoy and the VLR outfit in 1991.
After qualifying, Neal commented: “Fifth is not quite
the position I was expecting. The team tried different set-ups
on all three cars and obviously Dan’s worked best. We’ll
put that set-up on mine and Gareth’s cars for tomorrow.
But I’m feeling quite good about my chances. It would
be nice if my team-mates could support me, but I’d really
like to do it without their help.”
A delighted Dan Eaves after taking his first BTCC pole position
Dan Eaves at speed on his way to pole position at Brands
Hatch
This year marks the first time the BTCC cars have raced around
Brands Hatch's glorious Grand Prix circuit for three years
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