Jason Plato will start the first of tomorrow’s races at Knockhill from pole position, having secured the top spot by 0.073 seconds. It proved to be a great qualifying session for the local talent, as Gordon Shedden and Jonny Adam from Fife qualified in second and third places respectively.
Click here for full Round 19 Qualifying times.
Impressively Shedden’s second placed grid position marks the first time that his Cylde Valley Racing team will have started from the front row for a race. It signifies a positive result from a weekend that began on a bad note for the local team, after Adam Jones was forced to pull out of the event due to technical issues with the car.
Starting from third will be Airwaves BMW’s Jonny Adam who put in his best qualifying effort of his short BTCC career to date. The local driver was extremely pleased to be starting so close to the front for his home event.
“It’s great to be right up there in the top three with Jason Plato and Gordon Shedden,” said Adam. “I had a small off into the gravel early in the session but managed to recover and get quicker and quicker as the session went on. It’s nice to have two Scots in with a great shout of going for a win tomorrow.”
Adam admits he faces a difficult task against the experience of the front row men, but will be giving it his all around the twisty Knockhill circuit.
“I’ll be looking to attack the guys in front but it will be really tough as they are both so experienced and know their way around Knockhill,” he added. “I’ve put myself in a good position to do something special in front of my home fans though I will be giving it one hundred percent all the way.”
Starting from fourth will be championship leader Colin Turkington who goes into the first race carrying maximum success ballast. The Team RAC driver was only 0.170 seconds off the pace set by Plato.
Rob Collard completed a strong qualifying session for the team by ensuring that both Airwaves BMW cars will start the first of tomorrow’s races inside the top five. ” I think both Jonny and I have done well to put ourselves right in the mix for a win in the first race if it all goes to plan,” said Collard. “I’m really looking forward to the first race now and if we get a good start there’s no reason Jonny and I can’t be right up there.”
Mat Jackson, who had set the pace in the day’s opening practice session, was sixth fastest followed by the second Vauxhall of Matt Neal. Andrew Jordan was eighth fastest, with Stephen Jelley ninth and Paul O’Neill making it inside the top ten.
Turkington’s main championship challenger Fabrizio Giovanardi suffered a difficult qualifying session, only managing 11th fastest. The Italian hinted that the lack of pace may have been due to the cooler conditions not suiting the car’s tyre set-up. “I don’t think we had enough temperature in the tyres and that’s part of the problem,” said the reigning champion. “At the beginning of the season we had the car working well in cooler conditions, then in the last few weekends we’ve got the car working for the hotter weather, now we’re back to cooler conditions and maybe we need to bring the car back too, but we just didn’t get it there today.”
James Thompson was only 13th fastest in his Team Dynamics Honda Civic having suffered suspension damage earlier in the session following contact with a tyre stack.
Tom Chilton showed improved pace in the Team Aon Ford Focus ST, qualifying 12th fastest although he had earlier set the seventh fastest time in the wet opening practice session. His team-mate Alan Morrison will not be racing this weekend, despite the team saying otherwise following the Snetterton meeting. Also missing are Martyn Bell, who continues to recover from a knee injury, Liam McMillan and James Nash, who has opted to miss this weekend’s meeting due to budget constraints.
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