The Vauxhall Racing team arrived at Silverstone for rounds 7 and 8 of the British Touring Car Championship and were quickly back in the groove, with Yvan Muller clocking the fastest time in first practice and James Thompson quickest in second practice. O'Neill was also on the pace with second fastest time in the first session and eighth in second practice.

The day was capped with a VX Racing pole position courtesy of James Thompson, Yvan Muller starting in third place and Paul O'Neill in seventh position. Thompson posted a time of 1 min 28.277 secs in his Vauxhall Astra Coupe, Muller's lap was under .4secs slower, with a time of 1min 28.607, with O'Neill recording a time of 1min 28.902 secs.

James Thompson:"I knew my first lap was good and thought it would be a good 'banker' lap. I made a few mistakes on my next run, pushing hard and trying to get a few extra tenths out of the car, so it was good to have that lap in the bag. We worked hard to try and get rid of the understeer and we were slower through copse, so it would have been nice to have another session. It's my second pole position this year though, which is good.

For the race tomorrow, I'm still a bit uncertain. We still don't really know why we were slow at Thruxton in the race, so I'm a bit worried. We were quick in qualifying that weekend, but didn't have the pace in the actual race. I hope we don't have a repeat of that tomorrow. "

Yvan Muller: "I thought it would be difficult to get pole here, carrying so much ballast, but I thought a second row slot would be possible, so I'm happy enough. I couldn't expect much more. Of course, I was dreaming of something more, but not expecting something better! "

Paul O'Neill: "We had a good first session today when it was wet, but we really struggled with the dry set up in second practice. In qualifying it was just as difficult and I felt that I was dragging the car round, there was a lot of understeer particularly in the sections that matter, like the Brooklands complex. Still, we're at the sharper end and should be okay for tomorrow."

Mike Nicholson: "It was good to see James at the top of the time sheets, while I think Yvan is as far up the grid as possible with the weight he's carrying. Paul's up there too, so we're looking good for tomorrow. Honda and MG are bringing the fight to us, so there's no complacency at VX Racing. We'll continue to work hard to stay ahead of our rivals and look forward to a good race tomorrow.