Jason Plato and Darren Turner have made it a SEAT 1-2 in qualifying for the first of tomorrow’s (Sunday) three Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship rounds at the Knockhill circuit in Scotland. In the title race, championship leaders Matt Neal and Colin Turkington will start alongside each other from fifth and sixth positions on the grid.

Team-mates Plato and Turner moved to the top of the timesheets with perfectly judged final laps in this afternoon’s qualifying session, held on a wet track that began to dry out towards the end. Plato achieved pole, his third of the season in SEAT's Leon model, in a time of 57.467s. Turner made it onto the front row of the grid in only his third BTCC meeting with a lap in 57.607s.

Vauxhall’s Fabrizio Giovanardi and Team Halfords Honda driver Gordon Shedden – from Dunfermline, very much the home hero in Scotland – were third and fourth. Team Halfords driver Neal and Turkington, in his Team RAC MG ZS, completed the top six. Turkington tomorrow will be hoping to not just cut the 27-point gap to Neal but also achieve the first ever podium finish for a bio-ethanol-powered car in the BTCC after his squad announced it had converted its cars to run on the environmentally-run fuel for the remainder of the 2006 season.

Plato, meanwhile, will be hoping for a repeat of Snetterton three weeks ago when he won twice in a day. He lies third in the standings 40 points behind Neal and knows that more strong results at Knockhill could bring him into serious title contention.

The 2001 champion said: “It’s a great result for SEAT and also hugely rewarding to come out on top when the conditions keep changing as they did from wet to dry. I knew if we maximised the Leon’s capabilities then we could be on the front row of the grid. Now we’re perfectly placed to go and get some wins. It will be tough because it is very competitive, but I’ll feel confident whatever the weather tomorrow.”

Giovanardi felt he could have taken what would have been the first pole of his BTCC career. “I didn’t do a good enough job on my final lap when the track was improving – I’m sure I would have been fastest,” said the Italian. Out of Vauxhall’s three drivers, however, he is by far the best placed to challenge for a victory as the British make continues to seek that elusive 100 th race win. Indeed, it is now a year since it last won – at Knockhill last August.

Shedden was pleased enough with fourth, but added: “On my final two laps I was badly held up by two slower cars and that cost me. The car, though, is consistently fast, which is a very good sign for tomorrow.”

Neal also felt he had been delayed while trying to improve on his time. He said: “Turner tried having a drag race with me when he wasn’t even on a hot lap and that messed it up for me into the hairpin. I didn’t think he was like that. Fifth is OK and I think we have a really strong car in wet conditions, but I’ll take whatever weather comes.”

Turkington, who in fully dry conditions in first practice had set Knockhill’s fastest ever BTCC lap time, remained upbeat with the sixth fastest time. The 24-year-old Northern Irishman said: “The track conditions we’re quite greasy and that doesn’t suit our car. We need it to be either fully wet or fully dry to make the best use of our tyres. The time I set in practice was on used tyres and the forecast is for good weather tomorrow. I just hope they’ve got it right!”