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Tom Chilton Leads Vauxhall |
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Monday, 25 September 2006 |
| Attachment 17206 |
| Tom Chilton prepares to qualify in the Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch |
After losing the points lead to his two team-mates at Knockhill, Tom Chilton was determined to reassert himself in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship qualifying at Brands Hatch this afternoon.
The 21-year-old was not to be disappointed, qualifying just over one-hundredth-of-a-second in front of Italian team-mate, Fabrizio Giovanardi.
Chilton, from Reigate, was not exactly where he wanted to be, however, after the Vauxhalls struggled on the undulating Kent track, qualifying eighth, ninth and 12th overall for tomorrow’s races.
Tom Chilton: “I can only try my best to tomorrow. The most important thing will be
to keep my place and not go backwards in the race. I need to get a good
start and keep out of trouble to chip away at the places.
“It’s very hard to string a lap together around here. We’ve got the
most competitors racing here this weekend on the shortest circuit so
there’s a lot of traffic. All three Vauxhall drivers didn’t get a free
lap.”
Fabrizio Giovanardi: “I was really fast in the beginning but at
the end I did a bad time. My laps felt good but the times are bad. I
don’t understand it.
“I tried to push more and my feeling was good – no mistakes and the
time was worse. It’s quite strange. We will have to study the
information tonight to see if something is wrong on the car or if I’ve
made a mistake.”
Gavin Smith: “Last year I qualified on the front row here so I’m
disappointed. I felt as if I drove the best I could. I’ll do the best
job I can tomorrow to get as many points for Vauxhall as I can.
Tomorrow’s another day.”
The first of three 24-lap races will start tomorrow (Sunday) at 11.20.
Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship Qualifying – Round 25
| Driver |
Car |
Time |
| Jason Plato |
SEAT Léon |
49.368 |
| Darren Turner |
SEAT Léon |
+0.007 |
| Matt Neal |
Honda Integra |
+0.145 |
| Gordon Shedden |
Honda Integra |
+0.173 |
| Colin Turkington |
MG ZS |
+0.271 |
| Robert Collard |
MG ZS |
+0.333 |
| Gareth Howell |
Honda Integra |
+0.377 |
| Tom Chilton |
Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch |
+0.405 |
| Fabrizio Giovanardi |
Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch |
+0.420 |
| Mike Jordan |
Honda Integra |
+0.422 |
| Jason Hughes |
MG ZS |
+0.447 |
| Gavin Smith |
Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch |
+0.675 |
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 13 December 2006 )
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