Matt Neal looks to bounce back after snaring pole

Matt Neal said he was keen to bounce back from the disappointment of Donington Park after securing an unexpected pole position at Thruxton.

The Honda driver hasn’t started from the front of the grid in the BTCC for an astonishing five years, with his pace setting performance in qualifying marking his first pole position since 2012.

It capped a strong session for Honda as Gordon Shedden and Eurotech’s Jack Goff followed close behind, with the former champion keen to now try and convert his position into a result on race day.

“I actually can’t remember the last time I was on pole!” he said. “After the disappointment of Donington, we needed to bounce back and this is a great start – although ‘Flash’ certainly made me work hard for it.

“For Honda, this is like our home event with the cars manufactured up the road and it’s great to see so many guys from the factory here and to reward them with a one-two in qualifying. Now we just need to try to convert it tomorrow.”

Team-mate Shedden meanwhile admitted surprise at being second quickest considering the ballast being carried in his car.

“To be on the front row with 75kg in the car definitely exceeded my expectations – it was a proper lap and a fair chunk quicker than we went in FP2,” he said. “Realistically, I’d thought we would be doing well even to sneak into the top ten so I’m dead chuffed!

“Every lap was an adventure out there as I tried to keep my foot in for as long as possible through the faster corners out the back of the circuit – there wasn’t much left in the tank.”