Looks like we are off to another year of door to door banging racing as less than a second covered the top 14 drivers. If you’ve ever watched one of these races, you’ll know. That reminds us, we have a video that needs to be uploaded. Look for it in a bit!
Jason Plato on his way to 4th in qualifyingRising 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.
Jackson, aged 26 from Henley-in-Arden, said: “That was tough… 25 cars on a 1.2 mile circuit and only one dry line to take made things really hectic at the end.
“I could see the others were getting faster all the time and we all had to go off-line to pick our way past a few slower cars. I guess I just found a bigger gap than everyone else.
“But it’s a great start to our 2008 season and hopefully the BMW’s rear-wheel-drive will give me the start I need tomorrow. The start will be important because beating the likes of Fabrizio, Turkington and Plato for 24 laps is going to be very hard work.”
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 TDI, + 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
- HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship
