|
VX Racing on tail of Championship rival |
|
|
|
|
Saturday, 01 September 2007 |
 The penultimate race weekend of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) began with a nail-bighting qualifying session this afternoon at the Scottish circuit of Knockhill.
Almost perfect conditions saw many drivers achieve personal best lap times during the session. Fabrizio Giovanardi driving his Vauxhall Vectra battled throughout the session with title rival Plato. By the end of qualifying Giovanardi had secured fifth place with a time of 53.600s, behind the SEAT driver who will start round 25 of the championship in fourth. Pole position in the end was won by Darren Turner with a time of 53.007s.
Tom Chilton achieved a personal best time around this challenging track of 53.730s in his Vectra. However, after just eight minutes the session was red-flagged when the talented 22-year old was involved in an incident with BTCC rookie Alan Taylor. Unable to re-start, Chilton’s strong early qualifying lap ensured the Vauxhall driver seventh position on the grid when qualifying ended.
Round 25 of the BTCC will commence at 10:55 tomorrow (Sunday 2 September 2007), with rounds 26 and 27 following throughout the afternoon.
Fabrizio Giovanardi #5
“I can’t find the right set-up around the circuit. I had to push really hard to get fifth place today but I cannot drive like this in all the races tomorrow.
“I hope we can find something overnight because really both cars should easily be the quickest out there.”
Tom Chilton #7
“I came flying down the pit straight when the new guy Taylor came out of the pits very slowly. He was in front of me going into the first corner and when I thought he had moved out of the way he just swang back onto the racing line. I could not avoid him, so we hit and as a consequence I was unable to re-join the session, this obviously affected my chances of a high qualifying position.”
Provisional Qualifying Results Knockhill
1. Darren Turner (SEAT Leon); 53.007
2. Colin Turkington (BMW 320si); 53.181
3. Gordon Shedden (Honda Civic); 53.224
4. Jason Plato (SEAT Leon); 53.385
5. Fabrizio Giovanardi (Vauxhall Vectra); 53.600
6. Mike Jordan (Honda Integra); 53.665
7. Tom Chilton (Vauxhall Vectra); 53.730
8. Tom Onslow-Cole (BMW 320si); 53.775
|
