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British Touring Car Championship
Brands Hatch - Qualifying - 20/10/12

By MJP Media | 20 October 2012

The eBay Motors team continue their run of good form as Tom Onslow-Cole takes pole position for the first race from Brands Hatch tomorrow. Jason Plato and Gordon Shedden will start on the 3rd and 4th row respectively.

Tom Onslow-Cole takes pole position for eBay Motors

After the free practice sessions earlier today when Andrew Jordan set the fastest lap time, attention now focuses on the qualifying session for the first race of the day at Brands Hatch tomorrow. With only three races remaining in the 2012 season, this qualifying session could determine the fortunes of the 4 championship title contenders: Gordon Shedden, Jason Plato, Matt Neal and Andrew Jordan.

As the cars took to the 2.43 mile Grand Prix circuit there was a threat of rain so all the drivers were keen to put in a fast lap in case the weather deteriorated. The early pace was set by the BMWs of the eBay Motors team with Nick Foster, Tom Onslow-Cole and Rob Collard all posting fastest times. Rob Austin and Will Bratt also briefly topped the time sheets in their www.wixracing.co.uk Audi A4s.

Andrew Jordan in the Pirtek Racing Honda Civic qualified 2nd

As the session settled down, Jason Plato went fastest in the MG KX Momentum Racing MG6 with Rob Collard 2nd however it wasn't long before Andrew Jordan put in a faster time in his Pirtek Racing Honda Civic, pushing Plato down to 2nd and Collard down to 3rd. Aron Smith was running 4th in the Redstone Racing Ford Focus with Dave Newsham 5th for Team ES Racing.com.

With just under half the session remaining, Honda Yuasa Racing team-mates Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden went 2nd and 3rd. Neal then put in a fastest lap ahead of Andrew Jordan and Gordon Shedden. With 10 minutes to go, Tom Onslow-Cole went to the top of the time sheet.

Adam Morgan qualified an excellent 6th for Speedworks Motorsport

In the closing minutes, Andrew Jordan went 2nd fastest ahead of Matt Neal. Jordan briefly took provisional pole in the final lap only for Tom Onslow-Cole to set a faster time a few seconds later. The session ended with Onslow-Cole securing pole position for the first race tomorrow with Jordan 2nd fastest. Matt Neal qualified 3rd with Rob Collard 4th and Jason Plato, who spun off the track in the final minutes of the session, 5th. Current championship leader Gordon Shedden qualified 7th behind the Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Avensis of Adam Morgan in 6th.

The scene is now set for a thrilling day of racing at Brands Hatch tomorrow when the 2012 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship will reach its conclusion. With four drivers capable of lifting the coveted motorsport title, it's going to be an exciting conclusion to a fantastic season.

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