Photo: PSP Images

James Dodd pips Rob Huff to Silverstone pole

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James Dodd made the most of track position to pip pole position favourite Rob Huff to the top spot ahead of the HSCC Super Touring Championship’s starring role at the Silverstone Classic.

Huff took the first stint in the Ford Mondeo he will share with Richard Meins, setting a time that looked good enough for pole with his first flying lap. He could have gone faster, with yellow flags at Village and the Loop, caused by Roger Lavender’s stricken BMW, forcing the WTCC driver to lift off. Huff will compete in Sunday’s race, with his grid position determined by Richard Meins’ finishing position in Saturday’s encounter, despite Huff’s impressive time in qualifying.

“That was great,” Huff told TouringCarTimes. “I only got one lap in the car as I was just getting the laps in ahead of Sunday. The car felt great, it was my first time driving it on good tyres, there’s more in the car, we just need to get the balance right. Driving these cars are amazing, it was watching these race that inspired me to race touring cars.”

Huff’s lap held a three second advantage over nearest challenger John Cleland in the early stages before Dodd and Stewart Whyte got up to speed in their pair of Honda Accords.With just under half the session to go, Dodd jumped to the top of the times having been able to find a clear track and making the most of warm tyres.

“I just waited for the optimum time and lap,” Dodd said. “I wanted to follow Huffy for a couple of laps but he had John Cleland behind him so I backed off and just did my own thing. Hopefully we can have a good tussle with Huff in Sunday’s race.”

In the meantime, Patrick Watts had been slowly improving in his Peugeot 406, despite a piece of flailing bodywork on the left front of the car. Moving up a position almost every lap, the Thruxton race winner held third position for the majority of the closing stages, before Stewart Whyte improved and pushed Watts down to fourth position. John Cleland, who had been second at the start of the session, rounded out the top five placings.

The fastest of the GA category cars was Jan Bot in the BMW E30 M3, setting the 15th fastest time of the session. Elsewhere, Steve Soper qualified 17th alongside John Young in a Ford Capri, while Colin Turkington and Sam Hancock ended the session 29th in the BMW CSL.