Behind Neal, James Thompson was ninth for Team Dynamics having earlier set the pace in the first practice session, while Rob Collard completed the top ten, although the Airwaves BMW man admitted he had hoped for more.

“I'm a little bit frustrated to have qualified in tenth,” he said. “The car felt quite strong but we are further away from the front than we thought we would be. I was struggling a bit in the braking zones so that's something we will have to work hard to iron out. I'm confident the boys in the garage will deliver a very good set-up for the races though, and we will be able to challenge for strong finishes.”

Collard's rookie team-mate Jonathan Adam was eleventh quickest ahead of Dan Eaves, but the session proved to be trying for defending champion Fabrizio Giovanardi who could only secure 13th on the grid.

“I think I'm having the same problems as Matt, where we're just not getting the car to work when the track is hot and we're carrying the extra weight,” he said. “It's something we'll need to work on in testing next month, but for today we'll just have to make the best that we can of it. We're only just over a tenth of a second off Matt, yet that's five places back. I have my work cut out for the first race tomorrow, but, for sure, we can make up places.”

James Nash will start 14th ahead of Paul O'Neill, who was the final driver to qualify within a second of pole. Dave Pinkney was 16th ahead of Team Aon pair Tom Chilton and Onslow-Cole, while John George, Martyn Bell and Martin Johnson rounded out the field.