Turner takes Rockingham pole
Darren Turner grabbed pole position for tomorrow's first BTCC race in the final moments of qualifying at Rockingham
The SEAT driver put his Leon on pole with a time of 1:24.908s - just 0.028 seconds ahead of VX Racing's Fabrizio Giovanardi.
"It was a bit tight, taking pole on the last lap," said Turner. "The two practice sessions went really well and I felt pretty comfortable.
"For the last run I didn't realise I only had one lap, my engineer didn't tell me in case it put too much pressure on me."
Turner had a difficult opening weekend at Brands Hatch earlier this month, retiring from the first race getting disqualified from the third, after an incident with WSR's Colin Turkington.
However, the Briton has fought back at Rockingham today, also setting the fastest time in both free practice sessions.
"It's what we need," said the SEAT driver. "Let's hope that being on pole means we're going to have a good weekend."
Current championship leader Jason Plato will line up third on the grid, having set an impressive time just 0.345 seconds behind Turner, despite being heavy with ballast.
Matt Neal, who took a sensational win last time out at Brands Hatch, could only set the seventh fastest time today, close to half a second off the pace.
He will line up sixth on the grid, however, as fourth-placed Turkington had his times disallowed and will start from the back of the grid.
Pos Driver Make Time 1. Darren Turner SEAT 1:24.908 2. F.Giovanardi Vauxhall 1:24.936 + 0.028 3. Jason Plato SEAT 1:25.253 + 0.345 4. Tom Chilton Vauxhall 1:25.358 + 0.450 5. Eoin Murray Alfa Romeo 1:25.369 + 0.461 6. Matt Neal Honda 1:25.379 + 0.471 7. Tom Onslow-Cole BMW 1:25.398 + 0.490 8. Gordon Shedden Honda 1:25.459 + 0.551 9. Mat Jackson BMW 1:25.479 + 0.571 10. Gareth Howell SEAT 1:25.600 + 0.692 11. Matt Allison SEAT 1:25.639 + 0.731 12. Mike Jordan Honda 1:25.732 + 0.824 13. Jason Hughes MG 1:26.153 + 1.245 14. John George Honda 1:26.180 + 1.272 15. David Pinkney Alfa Romeo 1:26.533 + 1.625 16. Simon Blanckley Honda 1:26.640 + 1.732 17. Erkut Kizilirmak Vauxhall 1:26.813 + 1.905 18. Martyn Bell BMW 1:27.081 + 2.173 19. Chris Stockton Lexus 1:27.731 + 2.823 20. Fiona Leggate MG 1:27.917 + 3.009 21. Richard Marsh Alfa Romeo 1:28.217 + 3.309 22. Jim Pocklington BMW 1:29.602 + 4.694 23. Nick Leason Lexus 1:30.080 + 5.172 24. Rick Kerry BMW 1:32.892 + 7.984 25. Colin Turkington BMW No time 26. Adam Jones SEAT No time
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