Brands Hatch Qualifying
JACKSON ACHIEVES CAREER-FIRST BTCC POLE POSITION
AT BRANDS HATCH
Rising star Mat Jackson has qualified on pole position for
tomorrow’s opening round of the 2008 HiQ MSA British
Touring car Championship at Brands Hatch.
On a drying track Jackson, driving a BMW 320si for the BMW
Dealer UK Team, timed his run to perfection in the final minutes
of this afternoon’s qualifying session to achieve the
first pole of his BTCC career with a time of 49.348s.
Second and third fastest were reigning champion Fabrizio
Giovanardi (Vauxhall Vectra VXR) and Team RAC driver Colin
Turkington (BMW 320si). Jason Plato qualified SEAT’s
new diesel-powered Leon fourth on its debut as less than a
second covered the fastest 14 drivers, while 20-year-old Tom
Onslow-Cole was a strong fifth on his debut outing with VXR.
Giving the local Wrotham-based Motorbase team plenty to cheer
was Steven Kane – eighth in his BMW 320si for what will
be his BTCC debut.
Back in tenth was former double title-winner Matt Neal -
he lost valuable track time stuck in the pit lane while his
VX Racing mechanics repaired minor damage to the front splitter
of his Vectra VXR after he'd scuffed it over a kerb.
Tomorrow marks the start of the BTCC’s 50th anniversary
season. The opening three BTCC rounds of 2008 will be staged
around Brands’ short 1.2-mile Indy circuit – the
same track which hosted the championship’s first ever
race back in 1958. All three races will be shown in full during
five hours of live television coverage on the ITV4 channel
from 12.30pm-5.30pm.
Leading qualifying times:
Pos./Driver (NAT), Team/Car, Time
1. Mat Jackson (GBR), BMW Dealer Team UK/BMW 320si, 49.348s
2. Fabrizio Giovanardi (ITA), VX Racing/Vauxhall Vectra VXR,
+ 0.019s
3. Colin Turkington (GBR), Team RAC/BMW 320si, + 0.123s
4. Jason Plato (GBR), SEAT Sport UK/SEAT Leon TDI, + 0.163s
5. Tom Onslow-Cole (GBR), VX Racing/Vauxhall Vectra VXR,
+ 0.217s
6. Darren Turner (GBR), SEAT Sport UK/SEAT Leon, + 0.284s
7. Gordon Shedden (GBR), Team Halfords/Honda Civic, + 0.403s
8. Steven Kane (GBR), Motorbase/BMW 320si, + 0.419s
9. Tom Chilton (GBR), Team Halfords/Honda Civic, + 0.564s
10. Matt Neal (GBR), VX Racing/Vauxhall Vectra VXR, + 0.610s
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