Turner takes first BTCC diesel pole

Turner hit the top of the time sheets after 11 minutes of the session, which was red-flagged three times, setting the pace with a lap of 1:25.926.

He even survived a failed ride-height test, keeping his times after championship officials deemed that damage to his car's front-splitter - which was caused by a trip through the gravel at Clervaux - was to blame.

Gordon Shedden failed the test too, but unlike Turner, the Team Halfords Honda driver did lose his times.

Nevertheless, the Scotsman charged back to second with a time just 0.101 seconds slower than Turner, as the pole man was forced to sit out the final half of the session as SEAT were unable to replace the damaged splitter in time.

Jason Plato was the main victim of Shedden's charge, dropping from second to third on the grid in the second of the works SEATs, while practice pace-setter Colin Turkington and Matt Neal were fourth and fifth for Team RAC BMW and Vauxhall respectively.

Tom Onslow-Cole's Vauxhall was sixth while Mat Jackson, Tom Chilton, Adam Jones and Steven Kane completed the top ten.

Champion Fabrizio Giovanardi could only manage 12th on the grid in his Vauxhall, the Italian laden with 45 kilos of ballast, while three places further back was Harry Vaulkhard, who ran well in his Chevrolet Lacetti after missing all the practice running due to clutch problems.

Erkut Kizilirmak caused the second of the three red flags after eight minutes of the session as he crashed his Arkas Vauxhall heavily after losing control exiting the chicane and left the car with extensive right-side damage.

The other two stoppages, after two and 28 minutes of the 30, came when the BTC SEATs of first Stuart Oliver and then Chris Stockton went off into the gravel at Clervaux.

Pos  Driver             Make        Time
 1.  Darren Turner      SEAT        1:25.825
 2.  Gordon Shedden     Honda       1:25.926 + 0.101
 3.  Jason Plato        SEAT        1:26.027 + 0.202
 4.  Colin Turkington   BMW         1:26.173 + 0.348
 5.  Matt Neal          Vauxhall    1:26.226 + 0.401
 6.  Tom Onslow-Cole    Vauxhall    1:26.238 + 0.413
 7.  Mat Jackson        BMW         1:26.254 + 0.429
 8.  Tom Chilton        Honda       1:26.369 + 0.544
 9.  Adam Jones         SEAT        1:26.488 + 0.663
10.  Steven Kane        BMW         1:26.561 + 0.736
11.  Mike Jordan        Honda       1:26.563 + 0.738
12.  F.Giovanardi       Vauxhall    1:26.573 + 0.748
13.  Stephen Jelley     BMW         1:26.827 + 1.002
14.  Rob Collard        BMW         1:26.873 + 1.048
15.  Harry Vaulkhard    Chevrolet   1:27.768 + 1.943
16.  Jason Hughes       Honda       1:28.120 + 2.295
17.  John George        Honda       1:28.277 + 2.452
18.  Chris Stockton     SEAT        1:28.296 + 2.471
19.  Michael Doyle      Honda       1:28.625 + 2.800
20.  Alan Taylor        Honda       1:29.163 + 3.338
21.  Martyn Bell        Vauxhall    1:29.542 + 3.717
22.  Andrew Jordan      Honda       No time
23.  Erkut Kizilirmak   Vauxhall    No time
24.  Stuart Oliver      SEAT        No time