It was a scorcher at Thruxton (Hampshire) this afternoon as the qualifying session for the next round of the 2006 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship got underway. As the track temperature soured to 38ºC, it all came down to a one lap shout-out to secure pole position with Team RAC's Colin Turkington missing out by just 800th's of a second.

With his MG ZS, carrying 18kgs of success ballast, Colin secured 2nd and with it a front row spot for the first of tomorrow's three races with a time of 1m17.913s and an average speed of 108mph.

Stepping out of the car Colin said: "That wasn't easy. The track conditions are so hot and it really comes down to one perfect lap. The car was getting quicker throughout the session and I managed to get a good lap in with five minutes to go. We got the most out of the car and considering the man on pole has no extra weight, we've done well."

Team RAC team mate Rob Collard (Eversley, Hampshire) qualified the second on the MG's in 8th position with a lap time of 1m18.781s, but the session ended disappointingly when the engine let go on his final lap. Rob said: "I was coming into Church when the engine gave out. I managed to continue for a while but then smoke started to come into the car and I pulled over. Until that point the car had felt a lot better and we'd made improvements on the morning practise sessions."

Team Dynamics Gordon Shedden went on to secure pole position with a lap time of 1m.17.833s.

Race two's grid is decided by the finishing order of race one. Race three's grid is decided by the finishing order of race two, but with the leading positions reversed. The number of positions to be reversed will become known only after race two when the winner draws a random number between six and ten.

For the BTCC meeting at Thruxton tyre supplier Dunlop provide the team with a different compound of tyre to withstand the abrasive surface of the Hampshire circuit.

The full grid can be viewed on the Team RAC's website on the Latest Qualifying page.

The fourth BTCC round at Thruxton will be transmitted on ITV on Sunday 4 June starting at 16:30hrs. The programme will include highlights from race one and two with race three being shown live in its entirety. Satellite viewers can watch all three races live on Motors TV commencing at 10:50hrs. Further information on programme replays can be found at www.teamrac.com.