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British Touring Car Championship
Brands Hatch - Qualifying - 31/3/12

By MJP Media | 31 March 2012

Dave Newsham from Inverness secures pole position for the first race of the 2012 British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch.

Dave Newsham talking pole position
Dave Newsham talking pole position

Qualifying for the first race of the 2012 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch took place under cold and windy conditions. The early pace was set by the eBay Motors BMWs of Nick Foster and Tom Onslow-Cole however it wasn't long before Dave Newsham set a blistering time in his Team ES Racing.com Vauxhall Vectra on lap 6 which nobody else could beat.

Matt Neal qualifies on the front row of the grid
Matt Neal qualifies on the front row of the grid

Newsham, from Inverness, was delighted with his achievement saying "It's fantastic. I knew I had put a good lap in but now it's up to me to get the car quickly off the line tomorrow".

Behind Newsham, the battle was intense with positions changing almost every lap. At the close of the session it was defending champion Matt Neal who qualified 2nd in his Honda Yuasa Racing Civic with Rob Collard 3rd in the eBay Motors BMW 320si.

Rob Collard completes the top 3 in qualifying
Rob Collard completes the top 3 in qualifying

Joining Rob Collard on the second row of the grid will be Andrew Jordan in the Pirtek Racing Honda Civic who qualified 4th. On the 3rd row will be the eBay Motors BMW 320si of Tom Onslow-Cole and the MG KX Momentum Racing MG6 of Jason Plato.

The first race of the 2012 British Touring Car Championship is tomorrow and with a variety of teams and cars at the front of the grid, it is sure to be an exciting event. Follow all 3 of tomorrow's races in these pages.

Touring Car content supplied by MJP Media

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