Jason Plato qualified “only a sniff away” from pole position as he pushed his SEAT Sport UK Leon to its limits during qualifying for tomorrow’s Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship race meeting at Mondello Park. The 2001 Champion set a time just 0.055 seconds slower than Matt Neal (Honda) around the twisty 2.17 mile Irish circuit. Championship leader James Thompson was forced to set his best time on used tyres after both his best flying laps were ruined by red flags. In the final moments of qualifying, the 2002 and ’04 Champion set the 3rd best time – having been 15th for much of the session.

The day’s opening 40 minute free practice sessions were good for SEAT Sport UK, with James setting the fastest time (1:46.057) in the first session and Jason becoming the only driver to break the 1min 45sec barrier with an unbeaten 1:45.433 in the second.

In dry and cloudy conditions, both drivers attacked the circuit as soon as the following 30 minute qualifying session began. While Jason immediately set the 4th quickest time, James’ first flying lap was stopped by the red flags when Martyn Bell (BMW) went off after just six minutes had elapsed.

Both drivers went out on new tyres again, and while Jason climbed to 2nd with a stunning time of 1:45.388, James’ flying lap was halted when Fiona Leggate (Vauxhall) crashed into a tyre wall, bringing out the red flags again.

With 10 minutes of the session remaining, James only had used tyres left on which to conjure up some magic and improve on a lowly 15th on the grid. A fantastic performance saw him leapfrog up to 3rd with a time of 1:45.494, after which he dived into the pits to replace his very used front tyres with merely used ones. James left the pit lane with just 2mins 40secs of the session remaining, in which time he had to complete an out lap and begin a flying lap before the chequered flag appeared. He achieved it, and while everyone watched to see if the last man on the circuit could snatch pole, James was unable to match his previous time – despite a truly heroic effort.

Jason said: “I can’t grumble because we’re on the front row of the grid and we did a time in qualifying this afternoon that was better than we did in free practice this morning. If we’d had a little more grip into the apex of the corners then maybe that might have been pole, but we’re only a sniff away. I tried my best and there was nothing left in my car out there – that’s as fast as she can go around Mondello. I’m very pleased. Once again the team has done a fantastic job, we’re competitive, it will be a tough race tomorrow and we’re right in the thick of it.”

James said: “I got red flagged on every flying lap when I was on new tyres, so I ended up going out on four old tyres with only ten minutes of the session left. We got up to third and even though the last lap was a good one considering the tyres had already done three timed laps, that’s all we could get out of them. I’m a bit disappointed because I don’t like qualifying third. We can race from there for sure, but rather than have a clear track ahead I’ll also have to be careful and make sure I don’t get tangled up in anyone else’s incident.”

Round 4 of the BTCC starts tomorrow (Sunday 23rd April) at 10.55, followed by Round 5 and 6 at 13.20 and 15.50.

ITV1 will begin its broadcast tomorrow at 15.15, immediately after its coverage of the San Marino Grand Prix, while Motors TV will be broadcasting live throughout race day.