Colin Turkington claimed pole position for tomorrow’s opening British Touring Car Championship race at Donington Park ahead of Gordon Shedden and Jason Plato.
The fastest time in qualifying completed a clean sweep of sessions for Turkington’s Team BMR outfit, although in truth his claiming of pole came as something of a surprise with his team-mate Plato having dominated the day’s earlier practice sessions.
In a frantic half hour, the reigning champion posted his fastest time of 1:09.483s in the closing minutes of the session, and with neither Shedden or Plato able to usurp him will start from the front of the grid for round four of the championship.
Adam Morgan put in a strong lap to secure fourth on the grid, ahead of Triple Eight’s Andrew Jordan, who twice spun during the session. The 2013 champion nevertheless retains fifth on the grid, ahead of his team’s 500th start in the championship.
A sensational sixth place went to Power Maxed Racing’s Josh Cook – the best qualifying position that any NGTC Chevrolet Cruze has ever secured – who wrung every bit of pace out of his machine, ahead of joint championship leader Matt Neal and Sam Tordoff. Aiden Moffat made it two Mercedes-Benz A-Class’ in the top 10, with Cook’s team-mate Dave Newsham completing the top ten.
As was the case in the day’s two practice sessions, there was a brief stoppage as Andy Priaulx’s BMW stopped out on track. Despite Tordoff’s encouraging pace, it was a disappointing afternoon for the West Surrey Racing team, with Rob Collard managing only the 19th quickest time with Priaulx languishing in 23rd.
Tomorrow’s opening race is set to get underway at 11:32 BST, with coverage throughout the day on TouringCars.Net and @touringcarsnet.
Top ten times
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 1 | Colin TURKINGTON |  |
Team BMR | Volkswagen CC | 17 | 1:09.483 | ||
| 2 | 52 | M | Gordon SHEDDEN | |
Honda Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 18 | 1:09.539 | 0.056 |
| 3 | 99 | Jason PLATO | |
Team BMR | Volkswagen CC | 19 | 1:09.552 | 0.069 | |
| 4 | 33 | Adam MORGAN | |
WIX Racing | Mercedes Benz A-Class | 19 | 1:10.021 | 0.538 | |
| 5 | 77 | M | Andrew JORDAN | |
MG 888 Racing | MG 6GT | 19 | 1:10.029 | 0.546 |
| 6 | 66 | Josh COOK | |
Power Maxed Racing | Chevrolet Cruze | 17 | 1:10.119 | 0.636 | |
| 7 | 25 | M | Matt NEAL | |
Honda Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 19 | 1:10.179 | 0.696 |
| 8 | 7 | C | Sam TORDOFF | |
Team JCT600 with GardX | BMW 125i M Sport | 15 | 1:10.193 | 0.710 |
| 9 | 16 | Aiden MOFFAT | |
Laser Tools Racing | Mercedes Benz A-Class | 21 | 1:10.288 | 0.805 | |
| 10 | 17 | Dave NEWSHAM | |
Power Maxed Racing | Chevrolet Cruze | 18 | 1:10.337 | 0.854 |