First BTCC pole for MacDowall

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Sat 7th August 2010 Silverline Chevrolet's Alex MacDowall claimed his first BTCC pole position at Snetterton this afternoon, after lapping quickest in a wet session.

MacDowall, 19, became the youngest ever driver to take pole position in the series with a time of 1:19.332, which toppled his former-champion teammate, Jason Plato, from the top of the times.

The Norfolk skies had been rain-free all day until just before the start of the BTCC qualifying session, but the clouds opened right on cue and it was soon obvious that wet tyres were the only viable option.

Plato, Andrew Jordan and Tom Chilton all headed the times early on in the session and it looked like the Team Aon Focus had the upper hand. However, Plato and MacDowall then set their best times in quick succession to make it an all-Chevrolet front row for Sunday's first race.

The other significant news from the last few minutes of the session was Tom Onslow-Cole's Ford Focus failing the ride-height test. He had posted the sixth fastest time, but will start from the back of the grid as he was left with insufficient time to get out on track again after being demoted.

Behind MacDowall and Plato, Chilton starts third, ahead of Mat Jackson, Gordon Shedden and Andrew Jordan. Championship leader Matt Neal starts seventh, with Sunshine.co.uk's Paul O'Neill alongside him. James Nash and Tom Boardman round out the top ten.