Honda Racing’s Andy Priaulx sensationally secured double pole position at Knockhill Circuit this afternoon, ahead of rounds 15 & 16 of the Green Flag 2002 MSA British Touring Car Championship, held at the scenic Scottish circuit tomorrow. In doing so, Priaulx also secured Honda Racing’s debut pole under the new BTCC regulations.

Current championship leader James Thompson guided his success ballast laden Vauxhall Astra Coupé to second and fourth positions, whilst his similarly weighty Vauxhall Motorsport team mate Yvan Muller could only manage eighth and ninth. Championship rival Matt Neal fared a little better for Egg Sport and will start the sprint race from third on the grid, with a sixth place for the feature race.

Scotsman Gavin Pyper rounded out a terrific Green Flag BTCC qualifying session by securing an authoritative double pole in the Production class.

The qualifying session was split into two for the first time this season, to give both the Touring and Production Class runners more clear running around the tight and twisty 1.3mile Knockhill Circuit. The Touring Class was first out and Honda Racing immediately made its presence felt, with first Alan Morrison and then Priaulx heading the time sheets. Vauxhall Motorsport’s Thompson was soon back on familiar territory, taking provisional pole mid way through the session but the pressure was on, with the top six split by less than 9/100ths of a second. The leading pack of Thompson, Egg Sport’s Matt Neal, Priaulx, Morrison, Egg Sport’s Paul O’Neill and Anthony Reid for MG Sport and Racing were all gunning for the advantage when, with just two minutes to run to the end of the first segment, Priaulx completed a storming lap to put himself nearly 2/10ths of a second ahead of Thompson. Although Thompson let it all hang out on his final lap in an attempt to regain pole position, he had no answer to Priaulx and remained second. Neal finished third, having gone the wrong way on set up during the session, from Morrison in fourth. O’Neill claimed fifth ahead of Reid in sixth, the MG man particularly frustrated with his grid position, having been quickest in both free practice sessions this morning. Gareth Howell was quickest of the Independents’ Cup competitors, securing an impressive seventh overall for Team Atomic Kitten.

The second twenty minute segment – in which times are set for the feature race – was reduced to just eight and half minutes of running when MG Sport and Racing’s Warren Hughes severely damaged a tyre barrier. Hughes, who had suffered a failure on his MG ZS, was out of the session on the spot – and time lost in the clean up operation meant a sprint to the flag for the pack. Priaulx was immediately on the pace again, setting the quickest time from the off, then with just three and a half minutes remaining, Independents’ Cup entry Aaron Slight completed an almightly lap in his Barwell Motorsport Vauxhall Astra Coupé to grab provisional pole. But Priaulx was on a charge and Slight’s glory was shortlived as the Guernseyman regained pole, promptly reducing his own pole time even further. A last ditch effort by Anthony Reid saw the MG Sport and Racing driver leap up the order to go second quickest and even though he responded when Priaulx went quicker, he couldn’t quite match the Honda star. Reid ended the session in second place, an agonising 3/1000ths of a second off pole. Having suffered starter motor failure in the first segment, Slight was delighted to finish third quickest – the highest grid position of any Independents’ runner so far this season. Thompson was fourth, ahead of the Egg Sport pairing of O’Neill and Neal

Dan Eaves qualified ninth and seventh overall for Team Halfords, and in doing so secured two second place grid positions in the Independents’ Cup.

The frantic Touring Class session had its casualties, as always. The damaged caused to the car of MG Sport and Racing’s Hughes in the first segment precluded him from participating in the second – and he was joined on the spectator banks by Team Petronas Syntium Proton’s David Leslie, who’d suffered terminal problems with his Proton Impian’s steering rack in the first segment. Team Atomic Kitten’s Colin Turkington battled against gearbox problems in the second segment having failed to stop at the weighing scales in the first and therefore being relegated to the back of the grid for the Sprint Race.

But it was smiles all round in the Honda camp; as Priaulx enthused:

“I’m really pleased! I knew from practice that we had a bit in hand, it was just a question of putting it all together. I was particularly happy with the second segment – it was obvious that we only had a few laps to do the job and I did the lap as soon as I could. From there it was just a case of trying to improve it. I’m over the moon for the whole team today – they really deserve this result and I’m going to try hard to turn it into two Honda race wins tomorrow.”

With the Production category unusually qualifying separately from the Touring cars in today’s qualifying session, the drivers had the chance to really show off to an enthusiastic Knockhill crowd - and local Scottish driver Gavin Pyper, in his Gary Ayles Motorsport Alfa 156, didn’t disappoint. He topped the time sheets on the way to a sensational double pole, with a time of 57.388 for the first segment, and a brilliant 56.954 on the last lap of the second segment, just grabbing pole for the feature race from Edenbridge Racing’s Norman Simon.

Said Pyper:

“It wasn’t as easy as we thought it was going to be after such a good practice this morning. We put the new tyres on expecting as usual to go a little bit quicker, but the car wasn’t working with the new tyres, so we had to make a few changes and just go for it. It was a little bit late for our liking but we got the right result and I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s races, I really want to win in front of my home crowd.”

As always, James Kaye put up a good fight - despite the extra success ballast that he has to carry - to keep his championship ambitions on track. Kaye put his Synchro Motorsport Honda Civic alongside Gavin Pyper on the front row for the sprint race and secured fourth for the feature race. A resurgent Mark Fullalove, put his Tech-speed prepared Peugeot 306, just ahead of Kaye in third for the feature race, securing sixth for the sprint race.

The two drivers closest to Kaye in the championship also qualified well, with Edenbridge Racing’s Norman Simon, currently lying second in the championship, managing third for the sprint race and only being knocked off pole position for the feature race on the last lap by the flying Scotsman, Pyper. While Beacon Motorsport’s Spencer Marsh, only nine points behind Simon in the championship race, secured a solid fourth place for the sprint race and sixth for the feature race.

However, Lady Luck seemed to have deserted Alan Blencowe, who suffered ongoing gearbox problems from the morning’s practice sessions and will start from the back of the grid for both races. Even unluckier was Team B&Q’s Hyla Breese, who didn’t complete even a single lap due to engine problems and is unlikely to contest tomorrow’s races.

Green Flag BTCC action kicks off tomorrow at Knockhill Circuit with the sprint race, scheduled for 12.15, followed by the feature race at 15.45.