Thompson lead Vauxhall at Thruxton.

Yvan Muller may have an impressive race record in Hampshire, and the Frenchman may have led the two free practice sessions of the day, but it was James Thompson who emerged the leading VX Racing car qualifying at Thruxton today.

Thruxton played host to the third round of the Green Flag MSA British Touring Car Championship today, and saw James Thompson notch up another front row start for Vauxhall Racing.

Following two competitive morning practice sessions, the VX Racing drivers prepared for a tough qualifying period. With track temperatures rising as the sun started to shine, James Thompson, Yvan Muller and Paul O'Neill, had to work hard to make it into the top five.

Thompson posted the second fastest time of the session with a 1min 18.393s lap to line up alongside Matt Neal on the front row of the grid for the first of tomorrow's two races. Yvan Muller was fourth fastest at 1min 18.455s, with Paul O'Neill close on his heels in fifth place and a time of 1min 19.010s.

"We knew we had to pull something out of the bag this afternoon, so I'm happy to be on the front row," said Thompson afterwards. "We're carrying 57 kilos more than Matt (Neal), so it was always going to be a tough task for us. The morning sessions weren't easy for us and we've been suffering understeer all day, so overall it's a good outcome."

Yvan Muller remained optimistic after having been on top for two of the three Sunday sessions at the circuit. "I had much more understeer in qualifying than in practice this morning, which is probably because of the warmer weather we had this afternoon, so I'm a little disappointed," Muller said. "But, it's tomorrow that really counts and we'll see what we can do then."

Paul O'Neill rounded off the VX Racing effort in fifth place on the gird for tomorrow's first race. "I'm pleased with my fifth place, although it could have been better," he explained. "I overtook two production cars as I went into Church, so I had to brake rather than just lift there and I had to overtake another one towards the end of the lap, so these hurt my time a little. The car was a bit nervous to begin with, but then came good for my timed lap. I'm happy where I'm at for tomorrow."