Rockingham BTCC: Jason Plato takes dominant pole for MG
Jason Plato took pole position for the first British Touring Car race at Rockingham by dominating the qualifying session on Saturday afternoon
Having topped the two free practice sessions, the MG driver set two times good enough for pole in the opening 10 minutes of qualifying, then sat in the pits and watched his rivals fail to beat his mark.
"As soon as I got in the car this morning it felt like we had real pace," said Plato, who was the only man under the 1m23s barrier.
Plato's title rival Gordon Shedden, driving for Honda, was second fastest while Andrew Jordan's Eurotech Honda completed the top three.
The only major change in the closing stages came when Mat Jackson leapt up the field in Motorbase's NGTC Ford Focus to secure fourth.
Andy Neate underlined the pace of the MG6 with fifth and was disappointed not to be higher after a small mistake.
Championship leader Matt Neal overcame the pain caused by his hand injury to qualify sixth for Honda, just ahead of Frank Wrathall's Dynojet Toyota.
Knockhill dominator Rob Collard was eighth and the first of the WSR BMW drivers, while Jeff Smith (Eurotech) made it four NGTC Civics in the top nine.
BTCC rookie Howard Fuller qualified 14th in Tony Gilham Racing's S2000 Honda.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Jason Plato MG 1m22.448s 2. Gordon Shedden Honda 1m23.084s + 0.636s 3. Andrew Jordan Eurotech Honda 1m23.098s + 0.650s 4. Mat Jackson Motorbase Ford 1m23.178s + 0.730s 5. Andy Neate MG 1m23.300s + 0.852s 6. Matt Neal Honda 1m23.336s + 0.888s 7. Frank Wrathall Dynojet Toyota 1m23.394s + 0.946s 8. Rob Collard WSR BMW 1m23.498s + 1.050s 9. Jeff Smith Eurotech Honda 1m23.653s + 1.205s 10. Adam Morgan Speedworks Toyota 1m23.686s + 1.238s 11. Tom Onslow-Cole WSR BMW 1m23.718s + 1.270s 12. Rob Austin Austin Audi 1m23.763s + 1.315s 13. Dave Newsham ES Vauxhall 1m23.927s + 1.479s 14. Howard Fuller Gilham Honda 1m24.008s + 1.560s 15. Nick Foster WSR BMW 1m24.126s + 1.678s 16. Aron Smith Motorbase Ford 1m24.354s + 1.906s 17. Ollie Jackson AmD Volkswagen 1m24.920s + 2.472s 18. Will Bratt Austin Audi 1m25.146s + 2.698s 19. Tony Hughes Speedworks Toyota 1m25.736s + 3.288s 20. Chris James ES Vauxhall 1m25.829s + 3.381s
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