Matt Neal, winner of the opening round of the Green Flag MSA British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch three weeks ago, stormed to a double pole position for Egg Sport this afternoon at the demanding Oulton Park circuit.

In the first twenty minute segment of the qualifying session, Neal was playing catch up as first MG Sport and Racing’s Warren Hughes and then Vauxhall Motorsport’s James Thompson headed the time sheets. However, with just eight minutes to go, Neal leapfrogged up to second quickest, subsequently stringing together a superb lap to pip Thompson by just 1/1000th of a second

In the second segment, Neal was the man to beat from the word go, although MG’s Warren Hughes shadowed his every lap. With Hughes just not quite able to get on his terms, Neal held a safe advantage despite Yvan Muller claiming second with just minutes remaining.

Neal enthused:

“It’s great! The car’s run perfectly all day. I think this weekend I have had more pole positions that in my entire BTCC career … I will be smiling all night!”

Vauxhall Motorsport team mates Thompson and Muller line up second and third respectively for the Sprint Race. The team rectified a differential problem which affected Muller’s car in the first segment and last year’s Runner-up will start from the outside of the front row for the Feature Race.

Hughes, who is campaigning a completely new MG ZS race car this weekend, put in tremendous effort to claim third for the Feature Race, just 1/10th of a second shy of Muller in second.

Taking over the 2001 MG ZS run by MG Sport and Racing at the end of last season is Team Atomic Kitten, which experienced a quite dramatic debut into the BTCC this weekend. Irishman Colin Turkington qualified inside the top ten for both races, having run as high as seventh, whilst Gareth Howell will have to start from the back of the grid for both races, having ended his session in the gravel trap on his first flying lap.

Others enduring a rather eventful Qualifying include Team Halfords. Having posted times good enough for sixth and seventh for the Sprint Race, both cars failed to set a time for the Feature Race – Dan Eaves having his provisional fourth position time disallowed for a technical infringement and Tim Harvey suffering from an electrical problem.

Of the new teams, David Leslie performed best, qualifying his Proton Impian in eighth position for the Feature Race. Both Petronas Syntium Proton and Honda Racing continue with their development programmes this weekend.

Matt Neal was not the only one to claim a double pole at the undulating Cheshire circuit. In the Production category, the 2001 Runner-up James Kaye powered his Synchro Motorsport prepared Honda Civic Type-R around the 2.36 miles of narrow track to place himself at the head of the pack for rounds three and four of what is turning out to be a spectacular start to the BTCC season.

Kaye commented:

“This has been a great day for both myself and the team. I am over the moon to be back at the front of the Production grid. I am going to give 110% tomorrow. I want to win!”

Beacon Motorsport’s Spencer Marsh set the pace from the off in the first segment determined to claim pole for tomorrow’s Sprint Race but he could not hold back the Harrogate-based Kaye from setting the fastest time of 1:32.784, over a second faster than Tech-speed Motorsport’s Mark Fullalove, in second position, relegating Marsh to third.

All eyes were on Robert Collard in his Renault Clio - after a superb drive at Brands Hatch three weeks ago saw him claim his first well deserved win in the BTCC. His hopes for pole were soon dashed however as engine failure, caused by an incident in Free Practice, resulted in the Hook driver missing the entire Qualifying session. New entrant to the 2002 Championship, Gavin Pyper will also be forced to start at the back of the grid for both races in his Gary Ayles Motorsport prepared Alfa 156, as there was no time to affect a necessary gearbox change between Free Practice and Qualifying.

There will be an identical 1-2-3 line-up on the grid in both the Sprint and Feature Races, with James Kaye setting an even faster pace in the second segment of Qualifying claiming a time of 1:31.806, an incredible 2.120 seconds faster than Tech-speed Motorsport’s Mark Fullalove. Gary Ayles Motorsport’s Alan Blencowe claimed the third fastest time for the Feature Race but his time was disallowed due to a technicality enabling team mate Spencer Marsh to take his place.