Fifer Jonathan Adam, on the verge of clinching the Seat Cupra Championship for a second successive year, was fastest in both qualifying sessions for tomorrow’s final two races at Brands Hatch in Kent.
But the 26-year-old from Kirkcaldy, who leads his closest rival, Robert Lawson from Richmond by 17 points, will start from fourth on the grid for race one as a result of a penalty from the previous round at Silverstone.
“Obviously it’s not ideal, but that’s what the stewards decided,” Adam explained today. “It certainly makes the first race tougher, but I’ll still be doing everything I can to win the race and the title again.”
In qualifying for the first race, Adam lapped the 1.2-mile Brands Indy Circuit in 49.904secs pipping Lawson, who now inherits pole position, by 0.188s.
The talented young Scot — who has won nine of the last 12 races — went even quicker in the second qualifying session, stopping the clock in 49.893s, 0.235s ahead of second-placed Martin Byford and 0.435s ahead of Lawson who could only manage fourth.
Meanwhile independent racer Stephen Jelley stunned the established drivers in the British Touring Car Championship, when he powered to pole position for the first of today’s (Sun) three races in the final round of the series at Brands Hatch.
The Englishman, driving his BMW, stopped the clock at 49.297secs to pip the BMW of Mat Jackson by just 0.062s. And while Dalgety Bay’s Gordon Shedden lines his Honda up fifth, championship leader Fabrizio Giovanardi starts 11th.
The Italian, who lines up immediately behind his closest championship rival, Seat’s Jason Plato, will clinch the title for Vauxhall if he finishes no lower than third in the opening race.
JM