‘King of Croft’ Turkington storms to BTCC pole for WSR and BMW

Colin Turkington stormed to his second British Touring Car Championship pole position of the year as WSR and Team BMW led the way in qualifying at Croft.

The four-time champion, who has been christened the ‘King of Croft’, in deference to his 14 BTCC victories at the North Yorkshire circuit, was in majestic form aboard his BMW 330e M Sport.

Colin had been the fastest of the three BMW drivers in both morning practice sessions; the second of which was affected by a heavy rain shower, but brought all his experience to the fore in the three-part qualifying as he navigated the rounds to reach the ‘Quick Six’ pole-position shoot-out.

 “It’s been a good day,” commented Team Principal, Dick Bennetts. “Colin’s back to his ‘King of Croft’ moniker with a fantastic effort. Jake (Hill) had bad luck in getting done for track limits and he should have been fourth or fifth on the grid. Adam (Morgan) had a little spin and some after-effects but he should come back strong tomorrow. We’re all out to try and get BMW back into the lead of the Manufacturers’ Championship and to win the Drivers’ title as well. We should have good weather and we’re looking forward to it.”

Building his pace throughout, his 1m21.072s lap was enough to secure a seventh Croft pole – and a 29th in total – for the Northern Irishman, putting him in the top spot by almost two tenths of a second.

Team BMW team-mate Adam Morgan produced a similar pace to Colin in practice, but spun at the chicane during Q1; a shard cutting an electrical connection as he went across the grass and removing access to the series’ hybrid boost and restricting his gearshifting.

That meant the Lancashire racer missed out on a Q2 spot by just five hundredths of a second and will start Race One from 14th spot.

Championship leader Jake Hill impressively looked set to be a pole contender as well, despite having the least hybrid boost of any driver under series regulations, when he set a lap good enough for fourth spot in Q2 and a safe passage into the pole shoot-out.

Frustratingly the Kent racer was judged to have exceeded track limits on that lap, leading to its removal. The Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport driver’s second-best time put him 11th on the grid for Sunday’s opener.

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