Andy Priaulx broke the qualifying lap record as he claimed pole position for Round 19 of the British Touring Car Championship season at Knockhill.
The Guernseyman left it late to set his best time to secure a second pole of the season ahead of team-mate Sam Tordoff and the Motorbase Ford of Mat Jackson.
Priaulx had set the pace early on, before Jackson in his Ford Focus set two fast laps of the Scottish circuit – although the second, a 51.659s, was disallowed for track limits.
That still gave Jackson the advantage heading into the closing stages, but a red flag – the second of the session – following Matt Neal’s trip through the gravel set up a five-minute shootout for pole.
It looked as though the Motorbase man might hold on until the final minute when Tordoff posted the fastest time, only for Priaulx to improve to a 51.671s – bettering the 51.750s set by Colin Turkington last season.
Rob Collard made it three West Surrey Racing drivers in the top four, a quarter-of-a-second shy of his team-mate, while Gordon Shedden, who set the pace in the day’s two practice sessions, ended up fifth.
Rob Austin had a good run to sixth in his Audi A4, with Matt Neal, Andrew Jordan, Colin Turkington and Adam Morgan completing the top ten.
Championship leader Jason Plato had a disappointing session, and will start Sunday’s first race from 22nd, marking the worst-ever qualifying result of the two-time champion’s 17-year BTCC career.
Qualifying times
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 111 | C | Andy PRIAULX |  |
Team IHG Rewards Club | BMW 125i M Sport | 27 | 51.671 | |
| 2 | 7 | C | Sam TORDOFF | |
Team JCT600 with GardX | BMW 125i M Sport | 25 | 51.823 | 0.152 |
| 3 | 4 | Mat JACKSON | |
Motorbase Performance | Ford Focus | 28 | 51.835 | 0.164 | |
| 4 | 6 | C | Rob COLLARD | |
Team JCT600 with GardX | BMW 125i M Sport | 27 | 51.919 | 0.248 |
| 5 | 52 | M | Gordon SHEDDEN | |
Honda Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 24 | 51.924 | 0.253 |
| 6 | 101 | Rob AUSTIN | |
Exocet AlcoSense | Audi A4 | 29 | 51.979 | 0.308 | |
| 7 | 25 | M | Matt NEAL | |
Honda Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 23 | 52.054 | 0.383 |
| 8 | 77 | M | Andrew JORDAN | |
MG 888 Racing | MG 6GT | 23 | 52.061 | 0.390 |
| 9 | 1 | Colin TURKINGTON | |
Team BMR | Volkswagen CC | 25 | 52.134 | 0.463 | |
| 10 | 33 | Adam MORGAN | |
WIX Racing | Mercedes Benz A-Class | 26 | 52.135 | 0.464 | |
| 11 | 16 | Aiden MOFFAT | |
Laser Tools Racing | Mercedes Benz A-Class | 26 | 52.165 | 0.494 | |
| 12 | 80 | Tom INGRAM | |
Speedworks Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 25 | 52.169 | 0.498 | |
| 13 | 31 | M | Jack GOFF | |
MG 888 Racing | MG 6GT | 25 | 52.206 | 0.535 |
| 14 | 40 | Árón SMITH |  |
Team BMR | Volkswagen CC | 24 | 52.283 | 0.612 | |
| 15 | 55 | Jeff SMITH | |
Eurotech Racing | Honda Civic | 23 | 52.320 | 0.649 | |
| 16 | 21 | Mike BUSHELL | |
AmD Tuning.com | Ford Focus | 25 | 52.391 | 0.720 | |
| 17 | 39 | Warren SCOTT | |
Team BMR | Volkswagen CC | 22 | 52.400 | 0.729 | |
| 18 | 44 | James COLE | |
Motorbase Performance | Ford Focus | 25 | 52.401 | 0.730 | |
| 19 | 66 | Josh COOK | |
Power Maxed Racing | Chevrolet Cruze | 26 | 52.413 | 0.742 | |
| 20 | 30 | Martin DEPPER | |
Eurotech Racing | Honda Civic | 27 | 52.430 | 0.759 | |
| 21 | 54 | Hunter ABBOTT | |
Exocet AlcoSense | Audi A4 | 30 | 52.437 | 0.766 | |
| 22 | 99 | Jason PLATO | |
Team BMR | Volkswagen CC | 24 | 52.442 | 0.771 | |
| 23 | 17 | Dave NEWSHAM | |
Power Maxed Racing | Chevrolet Cruze | 16 | 52.524 | 0.853 | |
| 24 | 22 | Derek PALMER Jr | |
Support Our Paras Racing | Infiniti Q50 | 23 | 52.904 | 1.233 | |
| 25 | 67 | Robb HOLLAND |  |
Handy Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 29 | 53.359 | 1.688 | |
| 26 | 95 | Stewart LINES | |
Houseman Racing | Toyota Avensis | 26 | 53.379 | 1.708 | |
| 27 | 14 | Alex MARTIN | |
Dextra Racing | Ford Focus | 15 | 53.669 | 1.998 | |
| 28 | 13 | Dan WELCH | |
Welch Motorsport | Proton Gen-2 | 4 | 54.381 | 2.710 | |
| 29 | 23 | Kieran GALLAGHER | |
RCIB Insurance Racing | Toyota Avensis | 10 | 54.513 | 2.842 |