Colin Turkington’s British Touring Car Championship title defence began in the best way possible as he took pole position for the season opening round at Donington Park. The top three were separated by just a tenth of a second.
The West Surrey Racing driver broke the lap record with a 1:08:998. Team Dynamics’ Dan Cammish was just 0.087 seconds behind with Ash Sutton in his new Laser Tools Infiniti 0.097 seconds behind Turkington’s BMW.
The track was greasy which played into the hands of some drivers. Rory Butcher had a lucky escape into the Auld Hairpin as the rear of his Ford Focus stepped out. The scot recovered after an off track excursion. Nicholas Hamilton was next to catch the eye as the pins holding down his bonnet failed, resulting in the bonnet flying up and hanging off. The Team HARD driver failed to set a time in the session.
The Toyota of Tom Ingram set the early pace, with Butcher and Turkington close behind. With 12 minutes left in the session Turkington set his fastest time and he claimed pole position.
After a stoppage due to a red flag, the cars came out for ten more minutes of fighting for position for tomorrow’s opening race.
After dominating the two practice sessions, Turkington and his BMW were fastest in qualifying, with Cammish and Sutton close behind.
Ingram finished fourth two tenths behind Turkington, with the second BMW of Tom Oliphant fifth. Butcher recovered from his off to claim sixth on the grid, with Jake Hill in the MB Motorsport Honda Civic sitting seventh for tomorrow.
The top ten was rounded off by BTC’s Josh Cook, the second Team Dynamics car of Matt Neal, and Adam Morgan in his Ciceley Motorsport Mercedes A Class.
| Pos | Driver | Car | Time | Defecit |
| 1 | Colin Turkington | BMW 330i M Sport | 1:08:998 | |
| 2 | Dan Cammish | Honda Civic Type R FK8 | 1:09:085 | +0:087 |
| 3 | Ash Sutton | Infiniti Q50 | 1:09:095 | +0.097 |
| 4 | Tom Ingram | Toyota Corolla | 1:09:210 | +0.212 |
| 5 | Tom Oliphant | BMW 330i M Sport | 1:09:309 | +0.311 |
| 6 | Rory Butcher | Ford Focus ST | 1:09:329 | +0.331 |
| 7 | Jake Hill | Honda Civic Type R FK2 | 1:09:387 | +0.389 |
| 8 | Josh Cook | Honda Civic Type R FK8 | 1:09:411 | +0.413 |
| 9 | Matt Neal | Honda Civic Type R FK8 | 1:09:563 | +0.564 |
| 10 | Adam Morgan | Mercedes Benz A Class | 1:09:567 | +0.569 |
| 11 | Senna Proctor | Hyundai i30N | 1:09:588 | +0.590 |
| 12 | Sam Osborne | Honda Civic Type R FK2 | 1:09:631 | +0.633 |
| 13 | Ollie Jackson | Ford Focus RS | 1:09:723 | +0.725 |
| 14 | Chris Smiley | Hyundai i30N | 1:09:724 | +0.726 |
| 15 | Stephen Jelley | BMW 125i M Sport | 1:09:818 | +0.820 |
| 16 | Tom Chilton | Honda Civic Type R FK8 | 1:09:819 | +0.821 |
| 17 | Bobby Thompson | Audi S3 Saloon | 1:10:118 | +1.120 |
| 18 | Michael Crees | Honda Civic Type R FK8 | 1:10:200 | +1.202 |
| 19 | James Gornall | Audi S3 Saloon | 1:10:218 | +1.220 |
| 20 | Aiden Moffat | Infiniti Q50 | 1:10:432 | +1.434 |
| 21 | Andy Neate | Ford Focus ST | 1:10:692 | +1.694 |
| 22 | Carl Boardley | BMW 125i M Sport | 1:10:758 | +1.760 |
| 23 | Ollie Brown | VW CC | 1:11:049 | +2.051 |
| 24 | Jack Butel | Mercedes Benz A Class | 1:11:508 | +2.510 |
| 25 | Jack Goff | VW CC | 1:11:538 | +2.540 |
| 26 | Nicolas Hamilton | VW CC | No Time |
Image Credit: BTCC Media