Colin Turkington pleased with first 3 Series pole

Colin Turkington admitted he was delighted to secure the first pole for the new BMW 330i M Sport after topping the times in qualifying at Donington Park.

In a session hit by changeable weather conditions, Turkington was able to set a quick lap in the early stages that would prove to be unbeatable when light rain started to affect proceedings.

Multiple red flags would also prevent others from trying to improve close in on the WSR man when a dry line did briefly appear mid-way through the session, with Turkington eventually ending up on top by more than six-tenths of a second.

It marks the first time that Turkington will have started on pole since 2016, when he was still driving a Subaru Levorg for Team BMR.

“We could see the weather was threatening before the session and Dick [Bennetts] told us we needed to try and get a lap in early so we went for it when the conditions were at their best,” he said. “It was difficult because the track conditions were never at 100 per cent and I was finding the limit on my quickest lap, but I’m pleased to have taken the first pole for the 3 Series.

“We moved in the right direction with the car during the test at Thruxton but haven’t had as much dry running as we would have liked so far – qualifying was the first time we were able to do a dry lap this weekend.

“Even though things are similar underneath, it’s hard to come out with a new car when you only have limited running as nothing beats time behind the wheel, and the more track time we get, the stronger we will be.

“We were unlucky with the weather at Brands Hatch and hopefully we can have a strong race day tomorrow.”