Sam Tordoff pleased with “unexpected” pole position

Sam Tordoff said he was “not expecting” to find himself at the sharp end of the grid for the opening race of the Rockingham BTCC weekend.

The Triple Eight driver, who was also fastest in the opening free practice session of the day, pipped West Surrey Racing’s Colin Turkington to the top spot by 0.484 seconds, with team-mate Jason Plato taking third.

Tordoff was just shy of a new qualifying record, which stands at 1:22.350 set by Plato in 2013, putting in a time of 1:22.471 to take his second consecutive pole position.

“I wasn’t expecting to be that far up to be honest,” Tordoff told TouringCarTimes. “The car felt good and the session definitely seemed quicker at the start. We’ve got the pace to be at the front, so we’re definitely confident going in to tomorrow.”

However, the MG driver was wary of his front row partner, realising that leading in to Deene may be easier said that done.

“It’s quite possible that we’ll lose the lead after Turn 1 because of the BMW,” he added. “But we’re ballast free unlike Colin, so it could work in our favour.”