SEAT Sport UK drivers Jason Plato, Luke Hines and James Pickford have qualified in 8th, 9th and 10th positions respectively for Round 7 of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch. A shower of rain half way through the 30 minute qualifying session made conditions very difficult, while Jason was further hampered by an early gear linkage problem which kept his Toledo Cupra in the pit lane for 10 minutes.

James felt there was more speed to come from his car if he had been able to find more traction from his new tyres, while Luke was 6th before the rain came and is looking forward to some close racing tomorrow.

Jason said: “I’m very disappointed with that session really. We had some gremlins in the car and when things are as tight as they are at a circuit like Brands, we can’t afford to be throwing any time away. We didn’t call the weather right, the information which was given was wrong and we didn’t perform as well as we should have. We should be much further up the grid but we can’t dwell on it, today’s over and done with and now we’ve got to lift our game and get stuck in and do the best we can tomorrow.”

James said: “When you put new tyres on a racing car you expect to go quicker, but when we did that during qualifying we didn’t gain any speed at all! During the second test session this morning the geometry of the car was wrong and it knocked my confidence a bit. We’ve also been suffering with bad oversteer through Paddock Hill Bend and I just don’t feel confident enough with the tyres to be able to push. I should be able to drive through Paddock Hill Bend with new tyres on like the car’s on rails instead I’m going through there feeling like I’m driving on ice. Where we are now is not a true reflection of where we should be.”

Luke said: “That could have been a very good session for me because we managed to get the car set up well. During the first stint I got a good opening lap and then on the following laps I misjudged my braking a bit. I went out again when it was raining and I was three tenths up on my best time - but through the last few corners of the lap it was too wet and I couldn’t get the drive out of the corners. The car’s feeling good though and the time is definitely there; I just think we were a bit unlucky during that session but I’m pretty confident for tomorrow.”