Andy Priaulx heads West Surrey Racing 1-2 in Knockhill

Andy Priaulx took pole in a West Surrey Racing 1-2 at Knockhill, beating Sam Tordoff by just 0.152 seconds.

The West Surrey Racing trio made some late session leaps up to the top of the time sheets, with Priaulx and Tordoff’s times coming with just 90 seconds until the drop of the chequered flag. Rob Collard was also on form for the BMW squad, taking fourth behind the Ford Focus of Mat Jackson.

Mat Jackson held the top spot for the majority of the session, holding back various challenges from the Priaulx, Tordoff and Collard, as well as the two Honda Civic Type Rs of Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden, who had been on the pace all day.

Shedden would have to settle for fifth, while Neal ended in seventh place, the Audi of Rob Austin splitting the pair of red and white Hondas.

Andrew Jordan was right on the ragged edge in the final flurry of laps, getting incredibly sideways out of the Arnold Clark Chicane, before being able to improve his time up to eighth on the final lap.

Reigning champion and two-time winner at Snetterton, Colin Turkington, took ninth, while Adam Morgan rounded out the top ten.

Besides from Turkington’s ninth place, it was a session to forget for Team BMR, with Aron Smith taking 14th, Warren Scott taking 17th and Jason Plato having to settle for 22nd, only 0.771 seconds behind the polesitter.

The session was punctuated by two red flags, the first being for the stricken Dan Welch and Jeff Smith, both suffering completely unrelated incidents at the same time. Welch’s right front suspension failed with 18 minutes remaining in the 30 minute session, while Jeff Smith went off into the gravel trap.

The second red flag came with just five minutes to go when Honda Racing Team’s Matt Neal lost his car going through Duffus Dip and ended up in the gravel trap on the outside of Leslie’s.

A number of drivers made trips through the gravel, including Sam Tordoff, who went off at the start of the session, making contact with the barrier before coming back in to repair the car for his drive up to second on the grid.

Kieran Gallagher’s session also ended early, pulling his Toyota Avensis in to the pits after just 10 laps in a plume of smoke.