After impressing on his debut in the opening two Free Practice sessions of the British Touring Car Championship at Thruxton today, Martin Donnelly didnot take part in qualifying.

Ex-F1 racer Donnelly's Infiniti Support Our Paras Racing Q50 suffered power steering failure as he came through the chicane at the end of FP2, forcing him off the circuit. The impact damaged the car's front-left suspension."We've got to the root of the power steering problem, which has continued to plague both cars this season," team principal Derek Palmer Snr explained.

"But the damage to the front-left suspension of the car is worse than we initially thought, and the guys haven't managed to carry out the repairs in time for qualifying.

"Both cars though will definitely be ready for the opening race tomorrow.

"It's frustrating, because Martin has already shown through FP1 & 2 the strong positives he brings to the team. He's fired up for tomorrow's races, and we're looking forward to seeing him go racing for the first time in BTCC."