Gordon Shedden set a scorching pace to edge out former teammate Matt Neal for pole position at Rockingham this afternoon. Shedden, in the Team Halfords Honda Civic, set a best time of 1:24.327 in the half-hour qualifying session, with twelve drivers separated by less than one second.

Rain during the previous session had left the track damp at the start and it soon became clear that time being set early on in the session would have little relevance once a dry line started to develop. As the times started to tumble, Darren Turner, Tom Chilton, Matt Neal and Steven Kane all held provisional pole position during the second half of the session.

A number of drivers found themselves hindered by visits to the weighbridge during the session. Rob Collard (Motorbase Performance) and Darren Turner (SEAT Sport UK) both lost their laptimes after failing the ride height test. While they had plenty of time to set further quick times, the same was not true for Collard’s Motorbase teammate, Steven Kane, whose BMW failed to restart after being tested in the pitlane. It was particularly disappointing for Kane, as he was sitting fifth fastest at the time. With time left for just one flying lap, the Irish driver was able to climb back up to 11th on the grid for Sunday’s first race.

At the top of the timesheet, Shedden was quickest with five minutes to go, but it looked like Matt Neal had claimed pole for Vauxhall when he dethroned the Scot with just a couple of minutes remaining. Not to be outdone, Shedden put in a sensational final lap to go still faster, reclaiming pole position and this time he would stay there.

Shedden said, “It was another tricky qualifying session. I thought it was going to go right down to the last lap, but actually the track was dry about 10 minutes from the end. We’ve got pole position, which is great for everyone at Team Halfords. Now we need to keep working hard and here’s hoping for a good result tomorrow!”

Shedden will line up on the front row with Matt Neal alongside him. Starting third will be Adam Jones, impressively out-qualifying the works SEATs in his petrol-powered Team Air Cool Leon.

Jones commented, “That wasn’t expected at all. It’s been a great team effort and it’s all credit to the team that we’ve qualified where we have. I missed the races here last year with engine troubles, and I was getting a sense of déjà vu when the same happened again this morning. Fortunately we were able to change the engine though.”

SEAT pair Darren Turner and Jason Plato start fourth and fifth on the grid respectively, with Tom Onslow-Cole and Tom Chilton behind them. Championship leader Fabrizio Giovanardi could only manage 10th on the grid, just behind Mat Jackson.

Sunday’s first BTCC race is scheduled to get underway at 11:20, with coverage of all three races on ITV4.