VX Racing saw a return to form in today’s qualifying session in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship, with Colin Turkington claiming pole position – his second of the 2005 season. Team mate Yvan Muller will start immediately behind him on the second row from third and Gavin Smith, in the third VX Racing Astra Sport Hatch, begins the first of tomorrow’s three races from seventh on the grid.

The three VX Racing Astra Sport Hatch cars immediately demonstrated their dominance in the early stages of the 30-minute qualifying session, with Muller heading the time sheets after the first flying lap and Turkington close behind him in second. The team mates duelled for the top spot, and it wasn’t long before Turkington put in a blistering lap to snatch the lead from Muller. Smith showed strong form and battled his way to fifth position but had to settle for seventh place as the field traded quicker lap times. Towards the end of the session Matt Neal went second quickest to split the VX Racing drivers at the head of the time sheets. Despite a gallant effort to regain the position, Muller remained in third place.

VX Racing’s qualifying results were similar to those posted in the morning free practice sessions; Turkington was quickest in the first session with Muller finishing second and Smith in fifth. In the second session Muller was the quickest of the VX Racing drivers, finishing in fifth place, with Turkington eighth and Smith close behind in ninth after all three concentrated on optimising race set-up.

The 2.25-mile Croft circuit proves a challenge for most drivers as it demands a high level of technical driving to successfully negotiate the twisty, bumpy circuit at high speed. Spectators can expect spectacular racing as VX Racing aims to return to the winning form to which it has become accustomed to in recent years.

Colin Turkington

“It’s good to be starting on the front row. The car was working well this morning and I was quite confident that we could drag something out of it. I went quicker in the qualifying session than this morning and I hope that the race set-up will be as good. We ran some race settings in the second free practice so we’re going to give it our best shot! There’s only three hundredths of a second between the top three and the first corner is very narrow, so look out for some good racing.”

Yvan Muller

“We are very close to Colin even with the extra ballast, so I can be pleased with this session. Only one small problem: I broke the rear bar during the session and it cost me a bit of time and upset the strategy we had for qualifying. It’s not too bad, but it should be better. We have worked hard at the tests to isolate the issues with the cars from the beginning of the season, but are still to find the solution to every problem, but we know we are moving forward. I don’t know how we will run tomorrow, but we are confident.”

Gavin Smith

“It’s close, as it always is, but I didn’t get the best out of the tyres and I had been struggling with the balance of the car since the first practice session. In qualifying the car was the quickest it has been all day, but I have no doubt that we will get stronger. We did a race run in the second practice, but we went on old tyres so we didn’t get the best out of the car. We hope to run similar settings to qualifying in the race – it will be interesting to say the least!”

The 2005 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship is the first year of competition for the VX Racing Astra Sport Hatch. This year VX Racing will be aiming to repeat the triple-title winning success of the past four years.