Colin Turkington achieved his third pole position of the 2007 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season when he headed qualifying for the series’ rounds at the Snetterton circuit in Norfolk.
Northern Irishman Turkington (Portadown) achieved pole in a time of 1m12.290s in his Team RAC BMW 320si. Adding to his RAC squad’s joy, team-mate Tom Onslow-Cole took second position on tomorrow’s race one starting grid in a time of 1m12.480s – this his best qualifying performance to date.
Third in a time of 1m12.598s was Scottish driver Gordon Shedden (Dalgety Bay) in his Team Halfords Honda Civic, although his car stopped out on circuit towards the end of the session. Series leader Jason Plato (Oxford) was only eighth in his SEAT Leon that is carrying maximum success ballast and three places behind his closest championship rival, Vauxhall’s Italian driver Fabrizio Giovanardi.
Plato leads the title race by 25 points from Giovanardi, with reigning champion Matt Neal (Droitwich), who today qualified seventh fastest, a further 34 behind in third. Tomorrow’s three BTCC rounds from Snetterton will receive live terrestrial television coverage on the ITV1 channel from 2.30pm-4pm.
Leading positions, BTCC Qualifying, Snetterton (provisional):1. Colin Turkington (GBR), Team RAC/BMW 320si, 1m12.290s2. Tom Onslow-Cole (GBR), Team RAC/BMW 320si, +0.190s3. Gordon Shedden (GBR), Team Halfords/Honda Civic, +0.308s
4. Tom Chilton (GBR), VX Racing/Vauxhall Vectra, +0.360s5. Fabrizio Giovanardi (ITA), VX Racing/Vauxhall Vectra, +0.405s6. Darren Turner (GBR), SEAT Sport UK/SEAT Leon, +0.408s7. Matt Neal (GBR), Team Halfords/Honda Civic, +0.537s
8. Jason Plato (GBR), SEAT Sport UK/SEAT Leon, +0.550s9. Mat Jackson (GBR), Jacksons MSport/BMW 320si, +0.698s10. Mike Jordan (GBR), Eurotech-John Guest-Speedfit/Honda Integra, +0.698s
Turkington, currently fifth in the championship standings, is chasing his third victory of the season. Tomorrow he and Onslow-Cole will be cheered on by thousands of guests from his sponsor RAC’s headquarters in nearby Norwich. He said: “After the morning’s practice sessions I was sure I’d be somewhere near the front, but to take pole by almost two tenths of a second is perhaps a bit of a surprise. Provided it stays dry tomorrow, we have a good chance to take three very strong results.”
Onslow-Cole, aged only 20 but with two second place finishes so far in his debut BTCC season, added: “This is more like it. I’m ecstatic to be starting second. A win tomorrow is very much a realistic aim and this is the best opportunity I’ve given myself to get that win.”
Meanwhile, Plato, twice a winner here in 2006, said: “That’s not my true pace, as shown by the much quicker time I set in the earlier practice session, but I was badly held up by slower cars on each of my hot laps. I’m sure we have good race pace, but how many we can nobble while carrying that extra weight I don’t know.”
Giovanardi added: “I thought a top four position was possible, but I also had a slower car get in my way on what would have been my fastest lap. But I’m still three place in front of Plato so the fightback starts here. We still have 12 races to catch him before the end of the season…”
