Team RAC's Colin Turkington will take 6th place on the grid tomorrow alongside championship rival Matt Neal for the opening race of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship taking place at Snetterton, Norfolk.
- Round 7 - Snetterton -qualifying
Team RAC's Colin Turkington will take 6th place on the grid tomorrow alongside championship rival Matt Neal for the opening race of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship taking place at Snetterton, Norfolk.
Carrying an additional success ballast of 36kgs, the Irishman recorded a lap time of 1m12.321s and is confident of a good race. He said: "The SEATs are ahead of the Hondas tomorrow which is important for me and I'm still in quite a strong position lining up on the third row of the grid. It was a bit difficult to predict what the weather was going to do and adjust to the changing track conditions, but we opted for slick tyres. I'm confident that I can have a good race tomorrow and still in with a good chance of a podium."
Team-mate Rob Collard completed the top 10 line up with a time of 1m13.104s. Having expected rain in the first practice session, the car was prepared with a wet weather set-up but was later changed to suit the ever-changing conditions. Although pleased with the performance of the car, Rob was a little disappointed not to be placed higher on the grid, but remains optimistic ahead of the racing action. He said: "The car felt really quick and I would have liked to have repeated my front-row grid position of last year, so it's disappointing not to be further up the grid. Having started 12th at Donington two weeks ago, it could have been worse! I shall be putting everything into it tomorrow to make up as many places during the race."
SEAT's Jason Plato set the fastest time of the qualifying session with 1m11.793s taking pole position for tomorrow's BTCC opener.
The seventh BTCC round at Snetterton will be transmitted on ITV on Sunday 13 August starting at 14:00hrs. The programme will include highlights from race one and two with race three being shown live in its entirety. Satellite viewers can watch all three races live on Motors TV commencing at 10:50hrs. Further information on programme replays can be found at www.teamrac.com.
Copyright free images for editorial purposes are available at www.teamrac.com
To arrange an interview with a member of Team RAC, please contact Sarah Owen on 07793 633153.
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About RAC
- With around seven million members, RAC is one of the UK's most progressive motoring organizations, providing services for both private and business motorists. Whether it's roadside assistance, windscreen repair and replacement, learning to drive, vehicle inspections and checks, legal and financial services or up-to-the-minute traffic and travel information - RAC is able to meet motorists' needs. RAC incorporates BSM, RAC Auto Windscreens, RAC Direct Insurance and HPI.
- Aviva bought RAC last year. The acquisition brings together RAC's powerful brand and customer base with the expertise and leading position in motor insurance of Norwich Union Insurance (part of Aviva). Norwich Union is the UK's largest insurer, insuring one in seven motor vehicles and with a market share of around 14 per cent.
About Aviva
- Aviva is the world's fifth-largest insurance group and the biggest in the UK. It is one of the leading providers of life and pensions products in Europe and has substantial businesses elsewhere around the world. Its main activities are long-term savings, fund management and general insurance. It has premium income and investment sales of Ł36 billion and Ł332 billion of assets under management. The group has 58,000 employees serving 35 million customers worldwide.