Thruxton saw the start of Peugeot Sports aggressive attack on the Hampshire circuit today as the super tourers start the build up to rounds 3 & 4 of the TOCA tour.

The grid line up was looking distinctly more exciting as the two Alfa 147's and the premier of the rear wheel drive Lexus readied themselves for their first official appearance.

Vic Lee, Team Director of VLR said 'over the past couple of week's myself and the team have been working hard to find area's of the Coupe we could improve, after our first two initial practices it would seem our hard work has paid off, but it is also apparent that Vauxhall have found some extra speed as well'.

On a whole both Peugeot's performed well through out the practice sessions, and have made a noticeable increase in their speed since their last showing at Brands Hatch. However Dan Eaves did experience a minor setback as his head gasket blew mid practice.

Dan Eaves said: 'So far I have been pleased with how things have been going today, since Brands Vic and the team have made some modifications on the car which have definitely improved the Coupe's handling, and its speed. Although I did have a problem with the blown head gasket, the team assure me the car will be ready for qualifying.'

QUALIFYING REPORT

The qualifying session saw an exciting progression of events as poll position changed hands between the Vauxhalls of Thompson and Plato. Eaves was having a interrupted session, arriving late into qualifying and finding himself in and out of the pit lane. The team kept a close eye on the head gasket that caused Dan problems in his earlier practice sessions.

Despite his earlier set backs Dan Eaves was the fastest of the two Peugeot's, producing a time of 1.18.827 and landing himself 5th position on the grid for tomorrow; hot on his heels Steve Soper qualified 0.00.093 behind Eaves in 6th position.

Vic Lee, Team Director VLR said: 'We have certainly eaten into Vauxhall's lead by around 1.5 seconds per lap, so there will be a challenge tomorrow! Also it show's the improvements we've made to the car are working, so we are still positive about the potential of the Coupe.'