VAUXHALL RAINS SUPREME IN GREEN FLAG BTCC QUALIFYING

Yvan Muller and James Thompson claimed a pole position each for Vauxhall Motorsport this afternoon in difficult conditions at Mondello Park Circuit in County Kildare, Ireland. However, whilst Thompson superbly defied his maximum success ballast weight penalty to secure a front row grid slot for both races tomorrow, team mate Muller had technical problems in the latter part of qualifying, which leaves him down in 12th position for the Feature Race.

Intermittent drizzle at the start of the session made for arguably the most frantic qualifying session yet. As the track dried by the minute, so almost every driver took a turn at the top of the time sheets, but it was young Irishman Colin Turkington who appropriately held pole when the session was stopped to remove the stranded MG ZS of Warren Hughes. At the restart - and with the track now fully dry - the times began to tumble again as the leading drivers scrambled to set a time. Both Gareth Howell and Thompson, lying in second and first places respectively, looked set to out qualify their team mates with just seconds left to run. But Turkington immediately reasserted his authority to leapfrog Howell - and Muller strung everything together on his very last lap to take pole by an authoritative 9/10ths of a second from Thompson. Not to be outdone and ensuring a Vauxhall stronghold at the front of the grid, Paul O’Neill found the lap that mattered at the very end to jump up to third overall for Egg Sport.

Tom Chilton, who had run really strongly for Barwell Motorsport in the first segment, suffered an alternator failure and was subsequently excluded from the times for an infringement. He will start from the back of the grid for the Sprint Race, along with team mate Aaron Slight, Honda Racing’s Andy Priaulx and MG Sport and Racing’s Anthony Reid - who sat out most of the session, having put a hole in his oil sump during an incident. Warren Hughes added to MG’s woes in the first segment, spinning off into the gravel trap in the difficult conditions early on - and, having received outside assistance to get back on track, not being allowed to participate any further.

Compared to the first twenty minute segment, qualifying for the Feature Race was a fairly tame affair. Thompson went quickest early on, reducing his own pole time seemingly at will. But the pace-setter was soon under intense pressure from fellow Vauxhall rival Matt Neal for Egg Sport and the impressive Turkington/Howell combination for Team Atomic Kitten. With the works MGs struggling - Hughes sidelined and Reid having missed most of the first session - the Independent MG entry Atomic Kitten was proving the team’s increasing competitiveness. A final push from the top four saw Turkington end up just 2/10ths of a second shy of Thompson’s unassailable pole time, with Neal demoted to third and Howell in fourth.

Said a delighted Thompson:

“That was really hard work! The team had a good test at Donington Park the other week but to be honest I struggled in free practice this morning. We all had a hard talk before qualifying and I managed to drag a lap out of the bag. A lot of people have found it difficult to get the performance with success ballast on board, so I’m really pleased – but I had to work the car as hard as I could to do the time.”

Reid, who ended up a frustrated fifth, was pleased with his car’s handling, but failed to find a clear lap at the end. O’Neill rounded out a good session with sixth position. It was not such good news for Team Petronas Syntium Proton’s David Leslie or Barwell Motorsport’s Slight. Leslie parked up at the start of Feature Race qualifying with an oil leak and Slight picked up an intermittent electrical problem, which subsequently led to exclusion from the entire session for a technical infringement. Honda Racing, who ran in the top three during free practice this morning, was very disappointed with the session - Priaulx’s times being disallowed for an infringement and Morrison only managing seventh. Team Halfords secured a second top ten position for Tim Harvey, with Carl Breeze lining up alongside his more experienced team mate in eleventh – and Dan Eaves left with a lot of work to do in his Peugeot 406 Coupé, having missed the session completely due to crank shaft failure in free practice.

The Emerald Isle also produced an epic scrap for the prime spot in the Production category. Edenbridge Racing’s Norman Simon claimed a superb double pole with a time of 1:54.118 in the first segment for the Sprint Race, just over two seconds in front of the 2001 Lotus Elise Champion Mark Fullalove (Tech-speed Motorsport), followed closely by Team B&Q Jet York City’s Jim Edwards Jnr.

Smiling, Simon commented:

“This is the first time I have ever driven here at Mondello so I am very pleased with a double pole. It is a fantastic circuit! I will be looking to convert the poles to wins but I know I have a fight in front of me judging by today’s performance. Everyone is hungry for a podium finish so I just have to keep my wits about me.”

A short spell of rain seemed to lay down the gauntlet to a bunch of the Production boys who were unforgiving in their plight for a front row place. Spectators could not keep up as a game of cat and mouse ensued with grid places changing hands frequently. Whilst the track was slightly damp, Simon was being pushed hard by his rivals. But as the track began to dry, the rear wheel traction of the German’s BMW 320i came into its own and powered the driver into pole position.

Synchro Motorsport’s James Kaye and Gary Ayles Motorsport’s Gavin Pyper, two drivers who seemed to be relishing their time on the twisty Irish circuit in both the morning’s free practice sessions, subsequently heading the time sheets, simply ran out of time to get their cars out on the track before the start of the qualifying session. Changes were being made to the suspension of Kaye’s Honda Civic Type-R, which were completed for the start of the second segment but Pyper failed to participate in the entire session because of engine problems. Pyper’s quest to join the front runners in tomorrow’s racing from the back of the grid will no doubt be fuelled by his determination to take the winning crown from Kaye after the two disagreed on the cause of a coming together at Thruxton. The incident between the two resulted in a race ban for Pyper from the previous rounds of the championship at Silverstone. The re-union should spark up a few bitter memories and is sure to produce some electrifying action.

The line-up for the Feature Race will be slightly different. Simon again set the fastest time of 1:52.430 in the second segment so is set to lead the pack from the off. The BTC Production points leader, James Kaye, joined the fray and positioned his Honda Civic Type-R next to Simon, just under 5/10ths of a second off the poleman’s pace, even when carrying the maximum success ballast of 42kgs. Fullalove will sit in third place on the grid with Jim Edwards Jnr in sixth.