Stephen Jelley takes first ever pole

Stephen Jelley claimed his first ever pole position in the British Touring Car Championship. The Brit claimed the Brands Hatch pole with only 0.062 seconds ahead of BMW-colleauge Mat Jackson.
“I knew on the lap out of the pits that pole was possible – the car felt that good. Then it was a case of stringing together the perfect lap. What a way to start the final race weekend of my debut season in the championship. I’m delighted,” said Jelley to BTCC.net.

Darren Turner was best SEAT-man in third, 0.104 seconds behind Jelley. Matt Neal claimed fourth ahead of Gordon Shedden and Colin Turkington.

Robert Collard qualified seventh ahead of the ever strong Adam Jones and Steven Kane.

Title rivals Jason Plato and Fabrizio Giovanardi followed each other in the qualifying session. Plato qualified 10th and Giovanardi 11th. If they remain in these positions over the finish line in the first race, Giovanardi will be champion.

“We lost time in practice this morning with a power steering problem and that’s significantly compromised our day. I’ll be going into tomorrow without having done a race run in practice to gauge tyre wear rates and so on,” said Plato.

Plato carried 36 kilos of penalty weight while Giovanardi carried 45 kilos during the qualifying session.

“My car feels great, but just look how close the times are. I am less than three tenths of a second away from pole position – the extra weight makes all the difference.

“Of course I am happy to see Jason back with me – it’s good for the title. Maybe we can make an exciting show together for the crowds with of course me finishing ahead to win the championship,” said Giovanardi.