Photo: PSP Images

Colin Turkington secures first pole since 2016 at Donington Park

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Defending champion Colin Turkington secured his first pole since the 2016 season finale after topping the times in qualifying for the second round of the 2019 BTCC season at Donington Park.

In changeable weather conditions, the WSR driver was able to make the most of an early lap when conditions where at their best to secure top spot by more than six tenths of a second – a huge margin in a series where a similar number will often cover the top ten at least.

With rain in the air, Turkington was one of the drivers who focused on getting a quick lap in the bag early on and he would prove to be the only man all session to break the 1:10s marker in his BMW 330i M Sport.

Multiple red flags would aid his cause as others were prevented from closing in and when light rain then returned, a first pole for the new BMW was assured to leave Turkington in the ideal position for race day.

Alongside Turkington, Josh Cook maintained his recent strong form at Donington Park to secure a front-row start despite maximum ballast on his BTC Racing-run Honda Civic Type R. Cook would have a scare late on when he went off across the grass going down Cascades but escaped being collected as he rejoined at the Old Hairpin.

Ash Sutton was surprised to take third place in his Subaru Levorg ahead of Chris Smiley in the second of the BTC Honda, with Sam Tordoff’s older FK2 Honda in fifth. It would be a mixed session for the Cobra Sport AmD team however, with team-mate Rory Butcher down in 19th having been one of those drivers to be caught out by the red flag stoppages.

Tom Ingram lines up sixth in the new Toyota Corolla, with Dan Cammish, Matt Neal, Tom Oliphant and Rob Collard rounding out the top ten.

Elsewhere, FP1 pace setter Andrew Jordan was down in 16th place just ahead of Brands Hatch hero Stephen Jelley, with Tom Chilton’s Ford Focus also outside the top ten.

An action-packed session saw Bobby Thompson and Nicolas Hamilton both bring out the red flag with spins at the Old Hairpin, whilst Mark Blundell’s Audi would bring the session to a premature end when it went off at McLeans with less than 30 seconds on the clock.