Colin Turkington led a front-row lock-out for BMW and WSR in qualifying for this weekend’s British Touring Car Championship rounds at Snetterton.
On the eve of what’s set to be his 500th BTCC start, the Northern Irishman bagged his third pole position of 2022 and the 27th of his career; the four-time champion securing a crucial bonus point that increased his series lead to six points in intense heat in Norfolk.
Stablemate Jake Hill had been fastest in practice for ROKiT MB Motorsport and knocked Colin off the top spot in qualifying just before the halfway point of the 30-minute session.
But after encountering a slower car on his final run, he was unable to improve on his 1m55.870s lap and was overhauled by Colin’s Team BMW 330e M Sport with less than two minutes remaining as track temperatures reached 40 degrees.
“It’s been a fantastic day,” commented Dick Bennetts, Tem Principal. “To qualify one-two in a series as intensely competitive as the BTCC is such a difficult thing to do, so to have done it today – and with Colin and Jake so closely-matched – is thanks to an incredible effort by the whole team.
“It was, in fact, a one-two-three on laptimes before Stephen’s penalty… The heat today has affected everyone, but we’re as prepared as we can possibly be to deal with this tomorrow and give ourselves the best possible chance of taking at least one win, scoring a big helping of points and strengthening our championship position.”
Colin’s pole – which was achieved by just 0.065s – was his third in as many years at Snetterton and significantly gave WSR a third consecutive pole in the BTCC for the first time in the team’s long and illustrious history.
Jake’s best lap netted him second place on the grid is his fifth front-row start from the seven events held so far this season and keeps him just 15 points away from series leader Colin with 66 available from tomorrow’s three races.
Stephen Jelley, driving the second Team BMW 3 Series, ran consistently inside the top 10 in each of the earlier practice sessions, but found even more time in qualifying.
The Leicester racer was inside the top four throughout the critical timed session and equalled his best qualifying result of the season in third place, but rued a minor error on his first qualifying run that denied him a closer shot at pole.
Following the session Stephen was penalised one place on the grid for unintentionally impeding another car, dropping him to fourth on the grid for the first of tomorrow’s three races.
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