MG racer Sam Tordoff has claimed his first BTCC pole position after a sensational effort during qualifying at Snetterton.
Having set the pace during practice earlier today, Tordoff absolutely obliterated the lap record in qualifying, beating Frank Wrathalls 2012 flyer by nearly nine tenths of a second.
As MG KX Momentum Racing continue to dominate proceedings at the Norfolk circuit, double-champ Jason Plato followed closely behind his team-mate with Gordon Shedden and Andrew Jordan in third and fourth respectively. eBay Motors BMW driver Colin Turkington grabbed fifth, but there was high drama behind for the final place in the top six.
Irishman Aron Smith had fired himself into sixth with a great lap halfway through the session, before his running was cruelly ended on the next tour. The Airwaves Racing driver seemed to lose control of his Ford Focus on entry to Riches, and spun wildly before making heavy contact with the barrier on the exit of the corner.
A lengthy stoppage followed and despite the disappointment for the unharmed Smith, circuit conditions proved slower after the restart. With no changes to the top order in the latter stages Smith incredibly held on to his best qualifying result of the season with sixth, although his car will need some major repairs overnight.
"The cars not looking great right now," commented an upbeat Smith. "We've changed a lot on the car recently and it's just so much better. I did one flying lap, which was great, and then I made the mistake but sixth puts us in contention for tomorrow."
Adam Morgan was again the best-placed Toyota Avensis driver in seventh for Ciceley Racing, although Dave Newsham held that honour early on before having to settle for ninth.
Sandwiched between the Toyotas after producing his own stellar flying lap was the Vauxhall Insignia of Jack Goff. The reigning Clio Cup UK champion continues to make progress in his maiden BTCC season and his best qualifying result of the campaign here at Snetterton was mighty impressive.
"I tend to gauge where I am to Tom Onslow-Cole because hes a lot more experienced than me, so to out qualify him here and be the top Team HARD driver is a big boost," said Goff.
Behind Newsham, there were contrasting emotions for the drivers occupying the next two positions. Daniel Welch hauled the Proton Gen-2 into the top ten for the first time this season, whilst championship leader Matt Neal endured a challenging run. The Honda Yuasa Racing driver had comfortably qualified inside the top ten for the opening five rounds of the season, but the triple-champion could only manage 11th fastest around the 2.97 miles of tarmac today.
The VW Passats had a difficult time of it too as Tom Onslow-Cole ended up 14th and Warren Scott failed to set a time after his newly-build machine ground to a halt early on.
There was late excitement in the Jack Sears Trophy battle when series leader Lea Wood set the quickest time in the final minutes. Woods Vauxhall Vectra had suffered myriad of problems during the day, including a misfire for much of qualifying, but his Wheel Heaven/Houseman Racing squad corrected the fault for the final ten minutes of the session. His later flyer eclipsed the previous best JST effort, set by the Honda Civic of James Kaye.
Sam Tordoff said: Im thrilled with that. We knew we had the pacewe showed it in the test during the summer break, but you never know how the weekend is going to pan out. The first thing youve got to do as a racing driver is beat your team-mate, and when that means beating Jason Plato its no mean feat. This gives us the perfect opportunity for tomorrowIve shown Ive got what it takes to beat the guys around me, now its time to go and do it.
Jason Plato said: The fact is we know that Im carrying 27kg of ballast and Sam isntwe know thats worth three tenths, but in saying that I made a mistake on my lap. He nailed the lap, his performances this year are coming on leaps and boundshes really in the groove now and thats one of the reasons we got him in the car because we knew he was going to be quick. Not that there was a monkey on his back because hes already done such a great job, but from now his demeanour will change and that will make him even quicker. I shouldve done a 1:55.7s and that wouldve been about my bestI didnt have the pace in my car to beat Sam today.
Lea Wood said: Weve struggled with a misfire all morning, but actually managed to fix it during the red flag period in qualifying. I was really pleased with the lapand we only used one set of tyres which will really help us out tomorrow. I think early on well be able to mix it with some of the NGTC drivers too, but we really just need to focus on staying ahead of the S2000 competition.
2013 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car ChampionshipSnettertonQualifying
1 Sam Tordoff (MG KX Momentum Racing) 1:56.696 2 Jason Plato (MG KX Momentum Racing) +0.223 3 Gordon Shedden (Honda Yuasa Racing) +0.483 4 Andrew Jordan (Pirtek Racing) +0.693 5 Colin Turkington (eBay Motors) +0.790 6 Aron Smith (Airwaves Racing) +0.872 7 Adam Morgan (Ciceley Racing) +0.988 8 Jack Goff (RCIB Insurance Racing) +1.012 9 Dave Newsham (Speedworks Motorsport) +1.026 10 Daniel Welch (Welch Motorsport with Sopp + Sopp) +1.075 11 Matt Neal (Honda Yuasa Racing) +1.181 12 Rob Austin (WIX Racing) +1.198 13 Mat Jackson (Airwaves Racing) +1.262 14 Tom Onslow-Cole (PPCGB/Kraftwerk Racing) +1.363 15 Jeff Smith (Pirtek Racing) +1.649 16 Robert Collard (eBay Motors) +1.758 17 Frank Wrathall (Dynojet) +1.797 18 Ollie Jackson (Speedworks Motorsport) +2.133 19 Will Bratt (Rob Austin Racing) +2.227 20 Nick Foster (eBay Motors) +2.416 21 Robb Holland (RCIB Insurance Racing) +3.045 22 Lea Wood (Wheel Heaven/Houseman Racing) +3.279 23 Andy Neate (Team Club 44) +3.292 24 James Kaye (AmDTuning.com) +3.602 25 Liam Griffin (Addison Lee Motorbase) +4.168 26 1David Nye (Welch Motorsport with Sopp + Sopp) +4.502 27 Warren Scott (Team BMR Restart) No time set No time set
