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British Touring Car Championship
Oulton Park - Qualifying - 9/6/12

By MJP Media | 9 June 2012

Following his domination of the free practice sessions earlier today, championship leader Jason Plato secures pole position for the first race from Oulton Park tomorrow.

Jason Plato takes pole position for the first race tomorrow
Jason Plato takes pole position for the first race tomorrow

Qualifying for the first race at Oulton Park took place under a cloudy sky and in unusually cold conditions. The track temperature was reported as being 13 degrees - substantially less than we have come to expect at this Cheshire circuit in June!

In the early laps, the drivers were trying hard to get some heat into their tyres to aid grip but it wasn't long before they started to post some fast lap times. Initially, it was the eBay Motors trio of Rob Collard, Tom Onslow-Cole and Nick Foster who were at the top of the time sheet however a few minutes later Jason Plato posted a faster time in his KX MG Momentum Racing MG6 to take provisional pole position.

Matt Neal will start on the front row of the grid
Matt Neal will start on the front row of the grid

Although mainly dry, small areas of damp track coupled with the low track temperature caught several drivers out including provisional pole-sitter Jason Plato who slid wide and onto the waterlogged grass.

As the clock ticked own, Andrew Jordan posted a new fastest time, pushing Rob Collard down into 2nd place to claim provisional pole, however a few minutes later he lost it as Honda Yuasa Racing's Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden both set faster times in their Honda Civics.

Rob Collard qualified a fantastic 3rd for eBay Motors
Rob Collard qualified a fantastic 3rd for eBay Motors

It looked like the qualifying order had been set but in the closing minutes of the session Tom Onslow-Cole moved up to 3rd then Jason Plato moved up to 2nd but the championship leader hadn't finished yet and post the fastest time in the last 60 seconds of the session, securing pole position for the first race tomorrow.

Qualifying 2nd, Matt Neal will join Jason Plato on the front of the grid with Rob Collard (3rd) and Andrew Jordan (4th) on row 2. Gordon Shedden and Tom Onslow-Cole will start on the 3rd row of the grid. With less than 2/10ths of a second covering the top 4 drivers, it looks like Oulton Park will deliver some fantastic racing tomorrow.

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