Just seven-hundredths of a second prevented Steven Kane edging championship leader Fabrizio Giovanardi out of the top 10 qualifying positions at Rockingham today (Saturday 12 April) ahead of round four of the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship.

In an incredibly close session, when three quarters of a second covered the top 12 drivers, Kane's Motorbase Performance BMW 320si was right in contention and could easily have bumped the Italian ace out of the top 10. In fact, Kane was less than three tenths of a second slower than the fastest BMW at the Corby track as conditions seemed to favour the front wheel drive cars.

Meanwhile, Rob Collard had a mixed day and ended qualifying down in 16th place, knowing that there is still work to do to get the best out of the new car/driver combination.

Kane started the day well, running near the very front of the times in free practice until a small mistake pitched him into a gravel trap and he lost valuable running time over the balance of the session. "We've got the car a bit more dialled in and it is certainly going in the right direction," said Steven. But with the leading cars so evenly matched, being seven-tenths of a second slower than poleman Gordon Shedden means 11 places on the grid for Sunday's opening race.

"There's still more to come, "said Kane, a sentiment echoed by team boss David Bartrum. However, being firmly in the leading BMW times and within a fifth of a second of the 320si of race winner Mat Jackson showed that the Motorbase cars are getting very close to the optimum pace.