Team BMW’s Colin Turkington claimed a stunning pole position as he topped qualifying for the latest round of the British Touring Car Championship at Oulton Park.
The reigning champion, who is aiming for a record-equalling fourth title this year, found a largely clear lap on a baking-hot day and benefitted from a well-timed slipstream from WSR stablemate Andrew Jordan to set the pace.
His 1m25.825-second lap ensured the Northern Irishman, who was carrying the maximum 54kg success ballast, secured his second pole of the year and the third for the BMW 330i M Sport, which only debuted in April this year.
“Colin’s pulled an absolute blinder out of the bag today and we’re stunned that a 1m25.8 was possible,” commented Team Principal Dick Bennetts. He’s an absolute class act and we’ve always made BMWs go well around Oulton Park, so he’s maximised every last ounce of what was possible with the 3 Series. Tom’s (Oliphant) three best laps were all within a few hundredths of each other, which shows how consistent he is around here and puts him in a strong position for tomorrow’s races.”
Andrew Jordan and BMW Pirtek Racing qualified on the second row of the grid. Arriving as the BTCC’s top-scoring driver at the two previous triple-header events, the 2013 champion started strongly with fifth place in his WSR-run BMW 330i M Sport in the opening practice session.
Colin’s pole, which was the 19th of his BTCC career, increased his championship lead to 12 points.
Team-mate Tom Oliphant made strong progress through practice, improving from 18th to fifth from one session to the next and finding the track better-suited to his BMW 3 Series in the hotter temperatures.
Despite being blocked on his opening qualifying lap while on fresh slicks – when conditions were at their optimum – the Oulton local took seventh place to maintain his record of qualifying inside the top 10 at every event this year.
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