BTCC: Croft qualifying; Rampand Rydell eclipses rivals
24 June 2000
Rickard Rydell was unbeatable today in qualifying for rounds 13 and 14 of the Auto Trader British Touring Car Championship at Croft, North Yorkshire. The Super Swede broke the qualifying lap record by more than half a second on his way to claiming the number one starting spot for tomorrow's Feature Race (round 14) and was six tenths of a second clear of the pack in the Sprint Race (round 13) session. But despite his perfect pole performance Rydell was cautious about his prospects tomorrow. He said: "I'm pleased but I had two pole positions at Silverstone two weeks ago and I didn't get many points there so I'm not counting my chickens just yet. Tomorrow is a different day but starting from pole position twice I've got a good chance to win both races." Rydell's team-mate Anthony Reid, who has finished on the podium at every BTCC meeting so far this year, will be alongside the Swede on the front-row tomorrow after twice recording the second fastest time. Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen claimed third on the grid for round 13 in his Honda Accord and championship leader Alain Menu made it a Ford 1-2-3 start for round 14. Team Dynamics star Matt Neal was quickest of the Michelin Cup for Independents runners for both rounds, and Alan Morrison bagged both Class B pole positions in his Touring Car VIP Club Peugeot 306. TOP TEN QUALIFYING TIMES, ROUND 13 1 Rickard Rydell (Swe) Ford Team Mondeo Ford Mondeo Zetec 1m20.920s 2 Anthony Reid (GB) Ford Team Mondeo Ford Mondeo Zetec 1m21.576s 3 Alain Menu (Swi) Ford Team Mondeo Ford Mondeo Zetec 1m21.965s 4 Tom Kristensen (Den) Redstone Team Honda Honda Accord 1m22.276s 5 Jason Plato (GB) Vauxhall Motorsport Vauxhall Vectra 1m22.392s 6 Matt Neal (GB)* Team Dynamics Nissan Primera GT 1m22.879s 7 Gabriele Tarquini (Ita) Redstone Team Honda Honda Accord 1m23.715s 8 Alan Morrison (GB)** Touring Car VIP Club Peugeot 306 GTi 1m31.352s 9 Robert Collard (GB)** Bintcliffe Sport Racing Nissan Primera 1m34.543s 10 James Kaye (GB)** Barwell Motorsport Honda Accord 1m36.641s TOP TEN QUALIFYING TIMES, ROUND 14 1 Rickard Rydell (Swe) Ford Team Mondeo Ford Mondeo Zetec 1m20.517s 2 Anthony Reid (GB) Ford Team Mondeo Ford Mondeo Zetec 1m20.961s 3 Tom Kristensen (Den) Redstone Team Honda Honda Accord 1m20.964s 4 Matt Neal (GB)* Team Dynamics Nissan Primera GT 1m21.127s 5 Gabriele Tarquini (Ita) Redstone Team Honda Honda Accord 1m21.369s 6 James Thompson (GB) Redstone Team Honda Honda Accord 1m21.476s 7 Alain Menu (Swi) Ford Team Mondeo Ford Mondeo Zetec 1m21.493s 8 Jason Plato (GB) Vauxhall Motorsport Vauxhall Vectra 1m22.811s 9 Alan Morrison (GB)** Touring Car VIP Club Peugeot 306 GTi 1m30.078s 10 James Kaye (GB)** Barwell Motorsport Honda Accord 1m30.167s *= Michelin Cup for Independents **= Class B