Vauxhall driver Fabrizio Giovanardi has taken pole position in Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship qualifying at the Thruxton circuit in Hampshire.
Italian ace Giovanardi, currently second in the championship after two wins at Rockingham a fortnight ago, took what is the first BTCC pole of his career in a time of 1m17.476s – just 0.027s clear of SEAT driver Darren Turner.
Third was Mike Jordan with a time of 1m17.708s in his Eurotech/John Guest-Speedfit team’s Honda Integra, and fourth, in his Vauxhall Vectra, Giovanardi’s team-mate Tom Chilton (1m17.800s).
Series leader Jason Plato, his SEAT Leon carrying the maximum success ballast of 45kgs, was back in seventh, just ahead of reigning champion Matt Neal, eighth in his Team Halfords Honda Civic.
Top ten qualifying times, BTCC Thruxton (provisional):
Pos. Driver (NAT), Team/Car, Time1. Fabrizio Giovanardi (ITA), VX Racing/Vauxhall Vectra, 1m17.476s
2. Darren Turner (GBR), SEAT Sport UK/SEAT Leon, +0.027s
3. Mike Jordan (GBR), Eurotech-John Guest-Speedfit/Honda Integra, +0.232s
4. Tom Chilton (GBR), VX Racing/Vauxhall Vectra, +0.324s
5. Colin Turkington (GBR), Team RAC/BMW 320si E90, +0.430s
6. Gordon Shedden (GBR), Team Halfords/Honda Civic, +0.547s
7. Jason Plato (GBR), SEAT Sport UK/SEAT Leon, +0.616s
8. Matt Neal (GBR), Team Halfords/Honda Civic, +0.679s
9. Gareth Howell (GBR), Motorbase Performance/SEAT Toledo, +1.408s
10. Tom Onslow-Cole (GBR), Team RAC/BMW 320si E90, +1.522s
From pole position, Giovanardi knows he has a great opportunity to close the 18-point gap to series leader Plato: “I am really pleased with my performance. My car is carrying an extra 36kgs of success ballast and when my team told me my time on the radio it was unbelievable. Of course I want to win, but if Turner is quicker today and takes the lead then I'll not be so concerned – my main focus is on Plato and closing the gap to him.”
Turner, still hunting his first BTCC race win and eager to improve on his eighth place in the championship, said: “It’s disappointing to miss out on a second consecutive pole by such a small margin, particularly after I’d been fastest in both practice sessions, but at least we are bang on the pace. I’m confident that over a race distance we’re in very strong shape. Fabrizio won’t be getting an easy time off me today.”
Jordan, the oldest driver in the championship just turned 49 and seeking to give an older BTC-spec car a rare victory in this year’s championship said: “I’m delighted with that. We knew from the Integra’s results from the last two years with Team Halfords that it’s a beauty at Thruxton and it was down to me to do the rest. I’ve got the record already as the oldest winner in the BTCC aged 48 and I’ll be out to set a new record tomorrow – I still feel as vigorous as all these twenty or thirtysomethings around me.”
Today’s action will receive live television coverage from 16.00-17.30 on ITV3 with all-day live coverage on subscription channel Setanta Sports 2.
