Halfords Yuasa Racing’s Matt Neal has claimed his first Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship pole position in nearly five years after setting a qualifying lap record at Thruxton.
The triple champion hauled his Honda Civic Type R around the 2.356-mile circuit – the fastest track in the country – with supreme style to claim top spot ahead of his team-mate Gordon Shedden.
Neal had set the early pace before getting loose on the following tour, initially scuppering his chances of further improvement. On his ultimate lap the experienced racer also locked up slightly going into the final chicane, but the stellar lap was still enough to grab an historic pole position.
Jack Goff and Tom Ingram were at the top of the order mid-session before the young duo had to settle for third and fourth respectively. Eurotech Racing’s Goff has been on the pace throughout the day and the 26-year-old made it a one-two-three lockout for Honda machinery, whilst championship leader Tom Ingram also produced heroics in his ballast-laden Speedworks Toyota.
Handy Motorsport’s Rob Austin proved the potency of the Toyota by claiming fifth, backing up his own pole position at Donington Park last time out. Austin has shown speed throughout the 2017 season so far, but has been caught up in a number of unfortunate incidents on race day – a factor he will be looking to overcome tomorrow.
Jeff Smith had a wild ride to sixth, which included a session stopping accident on the exit of Allard. The Eurotech man had already set a solid lap time before running wide on the opening turn, resulting in his Honda car sliding across the grass and into the barrier.
Ciceley Motorsport’s Adam Morgan surged to seventh in his Mercedes A-Class, whilst Power Maxed Racing’s Tom Chilton performed well to claim eighth. The Vauxhall driver was severely hampered by Smith’s earlier noted incident, with the Astra seemingly flying towards its quickest lap of the session as the Honda went off. Unfortunately for Chilton the red flags were out by the time he reached the final chicane and his effort was subsequently aborted.
Ashley Sutton continues to fly the flag for Adrian Flux Subaru Racing, the young gun claiming ninth. Team BMW endured a challenging session with Colin Turkington’s tenth place being the best result for the Bavarian marque.
A host of famous faces had to settle for places outside of the top ten with the top 21 cars covered by less than a second. Such is the competitiveness in the series this season that it was double champion and BTCC legend Plato in that 21st position, just 0.999s behind Neal’s benchmark.
Three thrilling BTCC races are expected at Thruxton tomorrow with the entire race day being broadcast live and exclusively on ITV4 from 11:15.
2017 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Qualifying – Thruxton
1 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing 1m16.040s (111.54mph)
2 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +0.035s
3 Jack GOFF (GBR) Eurotech Racing +0.160s
4 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +0.196s
5 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) Handy Motorsport +0.337s
6 Jeff SMITH (GBR) Eurotech Racing +0.355s
7 Adam MORGAN (GBR) Ciceley Motorsport +0.454s
8 Tom CHILTON (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +0.534s
9 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +0.548s
10 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +0.582s
11 Mat JACKSON (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +0.600s
12 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +0.613s
13 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Simpson Racing +0.616s
14 Senna PROCTOR (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +0.662s
15 Luke DAVENPORT (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +0.702s
16 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) BMW Pirtek Racing +0.824s
17 Josh COOK (GBR) Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport +0.894s
18 Rob COLLARD (GBR) Team BMW +0.922s
19 Ant WHORTON-EALES (GBR) AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts +0.926s
20 Michael EPPS (GBR) Autoaid/RCIB Insurance Racing +0.934s
21 Jason PLATO (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +0.999s
22 Dave NEWSHAM (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +1.020s
23 Aron TAYLOR-SMITH (IRL) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +1.090s
24 Jake HILL (GBR) TAG Racing +1.208s
25 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts +1.212s
26 James COLE (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +1.215s
27 Chris SMILEY (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +1.243s
28 Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport +1.411s
29 Daniel LLOYD (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +1.420s
30 Will BURNS (GBR) Autoaid/RCIB Insurance Racing +1.531s
31 Martin DEPPER (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +1.727s
32 Josh PRICE (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +2.132s
