WSR’s Daryl DeLeon made British Touring Car Championship history on Saturday as he stormed to his first career pole position in a dramatic weather-affected qualifying session at Silverstone.
Daryl, 20, became the first Filipino driver to claim a pole position in the series and did so in dominant fashion as he topped each of his three portions of qualifying aboard his BMW 330i M Sport.
Having already set the pace in Q1 and Q2 – the latter in the best time across the day of 56.734 seconds – the Cambridgeshire-based driver gambled on two pitstops during the 10-minute ‘Quick Six’ pole shoot-out as a rainshower created a slippery surface.
Not only having wet tyres fitted, but allowing additional grip-enhancing set-up changes to be made, proved beneficial as he surged to the top spot in the final minute by just 0.038 seconds.
Daryl’s historic achievement also ensured his was the highest-qualifying driver competing for the Jack Sears Trophy, which he leads by 14 points with six races to go and 120 points still available.
“It’s been an excellent day; Daryl’s first pole position in the BTCC, our third from the nine events this year, and all four BMWs have qualified in the top 10 as well,” commented Team Principal Dick Bennetts. “We’ve had good speed across the day, especially with Daryl, who was fastest in FP1 and in all his sections of qualifying.
“If it’s wet or dry tomorrow, it looks like we’re in good shape with Jake, Aiden and Charles too, so we’ll be making sure we have four cars on the grid with the best possible chance of winning.”
It was the third pole position of the year for WSR and came at the same track where the team made a winning race debut in 1981 and scored their first BTCC victory in 1998.
Reigning champion Jake Hill starts third following a spin in Q3 seconds after he had taken over the top spot.
The Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport driver, who has won at Silverstone in each of the past four seasons, was just 0.212s behind Daryl but retains a superb chance of scoring a big points haul across Sunday’s trio of races.
LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR’s Aiden Moffat and Charles Rainford start eighth and ninth; Scottish driver Aiden recording his best qualifying result of the year.
Aiden had run in the top six in both practice sessions and easily progressed through Q1 as he showed strong and consistent speed as he chases podium finishes on Sunday.
Team-mate Charles, who is Daryl’s closest challenger for the Jack Sears Trophy, will start one row behind and showed evidence of his inherent speed by topping his Q1 group, ahead of Jake.
The first of Sunday’s three races begins at 1130.
Comments