Onslow-Cole ends pole draught

Date published : 05 Jun 2010 - 14:49:29

Tom Onslow-Cole claimed his first British Touring Car Championship pole position for two years as he qualified quickest at Oulton Park.The Arena Ford driver's initial effort had him sixth quickest as the halfway point of the session approached, but on his second run he leapt to the top of the order with a lap of 1m27.330s to knock Gordon Shedden off the top spot.Honda driver Shedden's time, which he could not improve on, was only 0.020 seconds slower than Onslow-Cole's as the Arena man took his third career pole.Chevrolet duo Jason Plato and Alex MacDowall both just failed to take pole with their best efforts, Plato's third spot being his best of 2010. Both drivers were within seven hundredths of a second of the pace.Tom Chilton, who was looking for a hat-trick of poles this season, could not do better than fifth as he had to pass the slower Forster BMW of Martin Depper on his final lap.Rob Collard's WSR BMW and the Honda of championship leader Matt Neal were sixth and seventh.Paul O'Neill's Tech-Speed Honda ground to a halt at the Island hairpin just nine minutes into the session. However, O'Neill's time was still good enough for a season-best eighth spot.Mat Jackson (Motorbase BMW) and James Nash (Triple 8 Vauxhall) completed the top 10 while further back Lea Wood (Wood Honda) and Andy Neate (WSR BMW) took their career best grid spots in 13th and 14th.The Forster BMWs also qualified higher than they have ever been before. Depper was the best of the team's drivers in 17th, one place ahead of Arthur Forster.After his practice problems, Andrew Jordan did not take part in the session as the Eurotech mechanics could not replace the engine in his Vauxhall Vectra in time. He will start from the back of the grid in race one.Pos Driver Car Time Gap 1. Tom Onslow-Cole Ford 1m27.330s 2. Gordon Shedden Honda 1m27.350s + 0.020s 3. Jason Plato Chevrolet 1m27.389s + 0.059s 4. Alex MacDowall Chevrolet 1m27.399s + 0.069s 5. Tom Chilton Ford 1m27.566s + 0.236s 6. Rob Collard BMW 1m27.653s + 0.323s 7. Matt Neal Honda 1m27.785s + 0.455s 8. Paul O'Neill Honda 1m27.861s + 0.531s 9. Mat Jackson BMW 1m27.905s + 0.575s10. James Nash Vauxhall 1m28.442s + 1.112s11. Steven Kane BMW 1m28.505s + 1.175s12. Tom Boardman SEAT 1m28.600s + 1.270s13. Lea Wood Honda 1m28.965s + 1.635s14. Andy Neate BMW 1m29.051s + 1.721s15. David Pinkney Vauxhall 1m29.059s + 1.729s16. Matt Hamilton Honda 1m29.453s + 2.123s17. Martin Depper BMW 1m29.495s + 2.165s18. Arthur Forster BMW 1m29.775s + 2.445s19. John George Honda 1m29.895s + 2.565s20. Shaun Hollamby Volkswagen 1m30.732s + 3.402s21. Martin Johnson Vauxhall 1m32.042s + 4.712s22. Andrew Jordan Vauxhall