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British Touring Car Championship
Donington Park - Qualifying - 16/4/11

By MJP Media | 16 April 2011

A fantastic showing for the Audi of Rob Austin but Matt Neal takes pole position for the first race at Donington Park tomorrow.

Action all the way was assured as the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship started qualifying for round 4 this afternoon at Donington Park. The stunning Donington Park Grand Prix circuit is bound to be a test for the normally aspirated cars such as the Chevrolets of Jason Plato and Alex MacDowall and the BMWs including Rob Collard.

Early qualifying laps saw a fantastic showing for the Audi of Rob Austin as it headed the tables, but normality was soon resumed as the main teams joined the fray. The twin Honda Racing Team attack of Gordon Shedden and Matt Neal had a healthy half second lead over Tom Chilton in the 2011 Ford Focus with James Nash's Vectra next and Mat Jackson 5th. Clearly championship leader Jason Plato needed to get some more laps in, but two further red flags involving Andy Neate and Tony Hughes were really affecting Plato and Pirtek Racing's Andrew Jordan. Drama occurred with 13 minutes of qualifying left when second placed Gordon Shedden retired with suspension damage and no obvious reason why!

With 10 minutes left the session restarted with Andrew Jordan desperate to set a time. On his first quick lap Jordan stunned the paddock going straight into third, with Jason Plato determined to improve on his now lowly eighth place. An all Vectra battle was developing for third as James Nash pushed Andrew Jordan back to fourth with two minutes to go.

After a hectic session it was Matt Neal taking pole for the second time this season. Neal was very quick to praise the team and described his car as a "pocket rocket". His only concern was reliability as the new turbocharged Honda really puts the strain on the rest of the car and its tyres. Second was his team-mate Gordon Shedden with James Nash third and Andrew Jordan fourth in the Vectras. Plato was back in 8th with Rob Collard the best of the BMWs in 10th. Honda seems to have the edge, but racing is always very different!

Be sure not to miss the best of the action from rounds 4, 5 and 6 of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship from Donington Park tomorrow.

 

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