Dan Rowbottom: “It’s been a fantastic day”

Dan Rowbottom admitted he was delighted at securing a maiden pole position in BTCC qualifying at Brands Hatch.

The Team Dynamics driver was on the pace across free practice at the Kent circuit and found himself holding third on the grid in the early stages of qualifying behind Jake Hill’s Ford Focus and the BMW of Tom Oliphant.

However, Rowbottom them returned to the track with a little more than six minutes left to put in a storming lap that would prove to be good enough for pole as he jumped a tenth clear of Hill at the top.

Capping a fine session for Dynamics team, team-mate Gordon Shedden then slotted into second spot to ensure an all-Honda front row.

“We just need a win now!” Rowbottom admitted. “What a day this has been. To go from not even being on the grid last season to now being here on pole is fantastic and the team has done a great job with the car.

“We lost out on a pole with Gordon at Snetterton so I was determined to come here and get the first official pole of the season. To not only do that, but to be heading a 1-2 for Halfords Racing with Cataclean is great and rewards the team for its work.

“We managed to just time the window right to get the lap in that mattered, and that was probably more luck than judgement to to be fair. However, you sometimes need that luck and now hopefully we can do well on Sunday.”