SHEDDEN ON BTCC POLE POSITION AT CROFT
Scottish driver Gordon Shedden has qualified on pole position
for tomorrow’s Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship
starting grid at the Croft circuit in North Yorkshire.
Shedden, driving a Team Halfords Honda Civic, spent the session
vying for top spot with rivals Colin Turkington and Darren
Turner but in the end achieved pole with an unbeatable lap
time of 1m26.243s. That was just 0.050s clear of Turkington,
who set a time of 1m26.293s in his Team RAC BMW 320si E90.
Turner, also right behind, was third in a time of 1m26.332s
in his SEAT Leon.
Series leader Jason Plato, his SEAT Leon carrying maximum
success ballast, was back in eighth. Significantly, he will
start behind his chief championship rival Fabrizio Giovanardi
– fifth in his Vauxhall Vectra thanks to a stunning
final qualifying lap. Until that point the Italian ace had
been back in 14th as his mechanics repaired a broken suspension
component on his car.
Local driver, Durham-based Simon Blanckley was 17th fastest
in his Sibsport Honda Integra for what will be his first BTCC
race meeting in front of his home crowd.
Top ten qualifying times, BTCC Croft (provisional):
Pos. Driver (NAT), Team/Car, Time
1. Gordon Shedden (GBR), Team Halfords/Honda Civic, 1m26.243s
2. Colin Turkington (GBR), Team RAC/BMW 320si E90, +0.050s
3. Darren Turner (GBR), SEAT Sport UK/SEAT Leon, +0.089s
4. Matt Neal (GBR), Team Halfords/Honda Civic, +0.391s
5. Fabrizio Giovanardi (ITA), VX Racing/Vauxhall Vectra, +0.589s
6. Tom Onslow-Cole (GBR), Team RAC/BMW 320si E90, +0.624s
7. Mike Jordan (GBR), Eurotech-John Guest-Speedfit/Honda Integra,
+0.636s
8. Jason Plato (GBR), SEAT Sport UK/SEAT Leon, +0.647s
9. Mat Jackson (GBR), Jacksons MSport/BMW 320si E90, +0.821s
10. Eoin Murray (IRL), Quest Racing/Alfa Romeo 156s, +1.024s
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