Adam wins BTCC battle of the Scots Rnd1

While Vauxhall duo Matt Neal and Fabrizio Giovanardi locked out the front row of the grid for the first of tomorrow’s opening British Touring Car Championship triple-headers at Brands Hatch, rookie Jonathan Adam won his own battle of the Scots

The 24-year-old from Kirkcaldy, the double Seat Cupra champion but making his BTCC debut, powered his BMW 320is to an impressive sixth on the grid, edging out the Team Dynamics Honda of fellow Fifer and former race winner Gordon Shedden.

“To be honest, I’m a little disappointed,” Adam admitted today after watching his team-mate Rob Collard take third place. “The car was going well but Rob just managed to pull out that little bit extra at the end of the qualifying session.

“But considering it’s my first time in the hurly-burly of touring car quali, I’ve got to be pleased. Now I have to make sure I stay out of trouble at the start and hopefully work my way towards a podium-finish in the opener.”

Seventh-placed Shedden meanwhile believes his car will be better-suited to the race than it was for qualifying.

“Yeh, I’m sure we’re going to be quicker in the race,” the Dalgety Bay racer explained. “Qualifying was ok, and sure I’d rather be further up the grid. But we know we can make good starts and hopefully we can get the jump on Jonathan at the start.”

At the front of the grid, former champ Neal edged out double BTCC champ Giovanardi by just 0.020secs after lapping the Kent circuit in 48.857s, while last-year’s runner-up, Jason Plato, qualified ninth in his privately-entered Chevrolet.

There was further good news for the touring car Scots. The two bio-ethanol-fuelled Seat Leons of Glasgow-based Clyde Valley Racing — driven by Adam Jones and Dan Eaves — line up 10th and 12th respectively. Eaves was just 0.899s off Neal’s best time.

JM 

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