Daryl DeLeon continued his excellent recent British Touring Car Championship qualifying form to put his WSR BMW 330i M Sport on the second row of the grid in a rain-affected session at Donington Park on Saturday.
The Anglo-Filipino racer added to his front-row start at Knockhill two weeks ago by qualifying fourth; a result that also made him the highest-placed Jack Sears Trophy driver in the field.
Cambridgeshire-based Daryl often found his path blocked by other cars during a hectic 10-minute Q2 session, but sourced enough clear track to put in an ultra-fast lap to promote him to the ‘Quick-Six’ pole shoot-out before increasing rain left the track unsuitable for his slick tyres.
“We had a strong result for Daryl today, which shows his continued improvement across the season as that’s three top-10s in a row for him for the first time in the BTCC,” commented Dick Bennetts, Team Principal. “The other drivers were generally unlucky with how the weather turned.
“If it had rained half an hour earlier, that could have favoured Aiden in Group 1, while Charles (Rainford) had the electrical issue and Jake (Hill) had a wet track for his final lap and wasn’t able to improve as a result. Come rain or shine, we think we have a good car for Sunday so we still have high hopes of adding to our recent podiums.”
Fellow WSR driver Jake Hill, driving the Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport BMW, was less fortunate as his two best laps were removed for exceeding track limits. His final flying lap was completed on a wetter track, meaning no chance for improvement.
The 2024 champion, who was a double-winner at Knockhill, will start the first of Sunday’s three races from 11th place on the grid.
LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR’s Charles Rainford, who is one point behind Daryl in the Jack Sears Trophy battle, could not repeat his Knockhill pole after experiencing an electrical glitch that left his BMW without any of the series’ ‘TOCA Turbo Boost’.
A pitstop to rectify the issue meant that he missed the drier part of the session, instead doing well to qualify eighth in his group on a totally wet track; a result that put him 15th on the grid.
His team-mate Aiden Moffat starts one spot behind; the Scottish racer being placed in a tough first group and agonisingly missing the cut for Q2 by just one tenth of a second as the first traces of rain fell at the end of the 10 minutes and prevented any improvements once his tyres were fully up to temperature.
The first of Sunday’s three races begins at 1130.
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