Matt Neal takes pole position for first round

Matt Neal has claimed the first pole position for an NGTC-engined car, with the Honda Civic pipping Andrew Jordan to pole, breaking the Brands Hatch qualifying lap record in the process.

The 30 minute session saw Neal set the best lap early on in the session, which he later improved to extend over the only driver that seemed to be able to threaten him, the Vauxhall of Andrew Jordan.

Jason Plato ended up in third in the Chevrolet Cruze, the top of the Super S2000 specification cars.

James Nash impressed with fourth in the Triple Eight Vauxhall Vectra, now powered by the same NGTC engine used by Andrew Jordan, with Alex MacDowall just one place back.

The session was red flagged briefly as Tom Onslow-Cole stopped on the start-finish line. Although Onslow-Cole was able to return to the pits after a push-start, he didn’t take any further part in the session and ended up 16th in the AmD Milltek Racing Volkswagen.

Tom Chilton was in second before the Focus failed the mandatory ride height check and had its lap times deleted. After a quick adjustment, the Arena Motorsport Ford got out in the final moments and managed to qualify in sixth.

Frank Wrathall qualified in 20th place and was the top of the new NGTC cars just three-tenths faster than Tony Hughes despite limited running and no testing.

The Rob Austin Racing Audi is still waiting for vital components and wasn’t able to take part in qualifying.

Gordon Shedden, who’s car was heavily damaged in free practice 1, also missed the session, but is expected to be able to take part in tomorrow’s races, where he will start from 22nd on the grid.