Jason Plato boosted his title hopes by securing pole position for the first of Sunday's three HiQ British Touring Car Championship rounds at Silverstone. With six races remaining on the 2008 calendar, the SEAT Sport UK driver trails VX Racing's reigning champion Fabrizio Giovanardi by 40-points but with the Italian only qualifying in a lowly 11th position, Plato is well placed to make significant in-roads into the Italian's series lead.

"This is a great result for SEAT," enthused Plato whose Leon TDi tam-mate Darren Turner lines up alongside on the front of the grid. "All I can do is to keep winning and to hope Fabrizio has some bad luck... and starting back there in 11th, he's in the zone where anything can happen in touring cars."

Giovanardi was mystified about his lowly qualifying position. "We've lost grip and chassis balance," reported the defending champion. "I'm not worried about starting so far back as long as we can find out where the performance has gone."

Colin Turkington was the fastest of the Independent drivers, lining up third in his BMW behind the two pace-setting SEATs. The Team RAC ace still harbours his own title hopes and currently holds third place in the overall championship as well as retaining his Independent crown. With his closest title rival Mat Jackson (BMW Dealer Team UK) only qualifying 14th, Turkington will have a great opportunity to extend his advantage.

Steven Kane continued Motorbase's impressive recent form with the sixth fastest time, while both Stephen Jelley (Team RAC) and Harry Vaulkhard (Robertshaw Racing) qualified seventh and eighth respectively - a career best for all three drivers.