BTCC: Rydell on top as Ford dominates qualifying
23 April 2000
Donington Park - Sunday 23 April 2000 Weather: Sunny, dry Rickard Rydell bagged both pole positions for Rounds Three and Four of the Auto Trader British Touring Car Championship at Donington Park today. The Swedish star, the 1998 BTCC Champion, proved to just have the edge over his team-mates Alain Menu and Anthony Reid, beating both by only hundredths of a second as he led Ford Team Mondeo to a 1-2-3 in each qualifying session at the Derbyshire track. Rydell said: "It's a great feeling to have two pole positions and I'm very pleased to see Ford 1-2-3 for both races. I feel very confident for tomorrow; the Ford team should have two really good races as long as everything goes well." Scotland's Reid lines-up alongside Rydell on the front row for the Sprint Race tomorrow (Round Three, 18 laps, 35.28 miles) with Swiss ace Menu third, but that pair swap places for the Feature Race grid (Round Four, 36 laps, 70.56 miles) with Menu second. Matt Neal, the reigning Michelin Cup for Independents Champion, was the fastest Independent runner in his Nissan Primera in both qualifying sessions. But he was put to the back of the grid for Round Three after his car failed a ride-height check, giving Glasgow's Colin Blair, in a similar Primera, his first Independent pole. Alan Morrison, driving the Touring Car VIP Club's Peugeot 306 was fastest of the Class B runners. TOP TEN QUALIFYING TIMES, ROUND 3 1 Rickard Rydell (Swe) Ford Team Mondeo Ford Mondeo Zetec 1m10.021s 2 Anthony Reid (GB) Ford Team Mondeo Ford Mondeo Zetec 1m10.078s 3 Alain Menu (Swi) Ford Team Mondeo Ford Mondeo Zetec 1m10.093s 4 Gabriele Tarquini (Ita)Redstone Team Honda Honda Accord 1m10.294s 5 Tom Kristensen (Den) Redstone Team Honda Honda Accord 1m10.705s 6 Peter Kox (Hol) Redstone Team Honda Honda Accord 1m11.161s 7 Yvan Muller (Fra) Vauxhall Motorsport Vauxhall Vectra 1m11.220s 8 Jason Plato (GB) Vauxhall Motorsport Vauxhall Vectra 1m11.288s 9 V. Radermecker (Bel) Vauxhall Motorsport Vauxhall Vectra 1m11.337s 10 Colin Blair (GB)* PRO Motorsport Nissan Primera GT 1m12.586s TOP TEN QUALIFYING TIMES, ROUND 4 1 Rickard Rydell (Swe) Ford Team Mondeo Ford Mondeo Zetec 1m09.929s 2 Alain Menu (Swi) Ford Team Mondeo Ford Mondeo Zetec 1m10.003s 3 Anthony Reid (GB) Ford Team Mondeo Ford Mondeo Zetec 1m10.051s 4 Gabriele Tarquini (Ita Redstone Team Honda Honda Accord 1m10.099s 5 Tom Kristensen (Den) Redstone Team Honda Honda Accord 1m10.109s 6 Peter Kox (Hol) Redstone Team Honda Honda Accord 1m10.268s 7 Matt Neal (GB)* Team Dynamics Nissan Primera GT 1m10.523s 8 V. Radermecker (Bel) Vauxhall Motorsport Vauxhall Vectra 1m10.665s 9 Yvan Muller (Fra) Vauxhall Motorsport Vauxhall Vectra 1m10.762s 10 Jason Plato (GB) Vauxhall Motorsport Vauxhall Vectra 1m11.092s *=Michelin Cup for Independents driver