Motorbase driver Mat Jackson secured pole position for tomorrow’s opening British Touring Car Championship race at Silverstone with a new lap record, ahead of Gordon Shedden and Sam Tordoff.
Jackson’s best effort, a 58.078s, was good enough for a second successive pole for Jackson and his Motorbase team, which prior to the previous round at Rockingham had never had such a result.
Jackson moved to the front of the field shortly before a brief red flag period, and improved three times thereafter to beat the previous pole record of 58.210s – even though his best time saw no improvement in either sector.
Championship leader Shedden was 0.206s adrift of Jackson and never looked like troubling the Ford Focus driver, but put himself in a strong position for Sunday’s three races with a front row start.
Tordoff recorded a late flyer as the chequered flag fell to steal third on the grid from a revitalised MG of Andrew Jordan, while Dave Newsham performed well in his Power Maxed Racing Chevrolet Cruze for fifth.
Colin Turkington was the best placed of the Team BMR drivers in sixth, with Aron Smith eighth and Jason Plato – Shedden’s closest championship challenger – having to settle for 10th after a late surge in his Volkswagen CC.
Qualifying times
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 4 | Mat JACKSON |  |
Motorbase Performance | Ford Focus | 21 | 58.078 | ||
| 2 | 52 | M | Gordon SHEDDEN | |
Honda Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 20 | 58.284 | 0.206 |
| 3 | 7 | C | Sam TORDOFF | |
Team JCT600 with GardX | BMW 125i M Sport | 24 | 58.344 | 0.266 |
| 4 | 77 | M | Andrew JORDAN | |
MG 888 Racing | MG 6GT | 21 | 58.361 | 0.283 |
| 5 | 17 | Dave NEWSHAM | |
Power Maxed Racing | Chevrolet Cruze | 15 | 58.375 | 0.297 | |
| 6 | 1 | Colin TURKINGTON | |
Team BMR RCIB Insurance | Volkswagen CC | 21 | 58.383 | 0.305 | |
| 7 | 80 | Tom INGRAM | |
Speedworks Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 20 | 58.385 | 0.307 | |
| 8 | 40 | Árón SMITH |  |
Team BMR RCIB Insurance | Volkswagen CC | 24 | 58.389 | 0.311 | |
| 9 | 31 | M | Jack GOFF | |
MG 888 Racing | MG 6GT | 21 | 58.433 | 0.355 |
| 10 | 99 | Jason PLATO | |
Team BMR RCIB Insurance | Volkswagen CC | 22 | 58.465 | 0.387 | |
| 11 | 25 | M | Matt NEAL | |
Honda Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 21 | 58.536 | 0.458 |
| 12 | 6 | C | Rob COLLARD | |
Team JCT600 with GardX | BMW 125i M Sport | 24 | 58.542 | 0.464 |
| 13 | 33 | Adam MORGAN | |
WIX Racing | Mercedes Benz A-Class | 23 | 58.548 | 0.470 | |
| 14 | 101 | Rob AUSTIN | |
Exocet AlcoSense | Audi A4 | 23 | 58.554 | 0.476 | |
| 15 | 21 | Mike BUSHELL | |
AmD Tuning.com | Ford Focus | 20 | 58.603 | 0.525 | |
| 16 | 66 | Josh COOK | |
Power Maxed Racing | Chevrolet Cruze | 22 | 58.616 | 0.538 | |
| 17 | 55 | Jeff SMITH | |
Eurotech Racing | Honda Civic | 23 | 58.711 | 0.633 | |
| 18 | 54 | Hunter ABBOTT | |
Exocet AlcoSense | Audi A4 | 25 | 58.716 | 0.638 | |
| 19 | 44 | James COLE | |
Motorbase Performance | Ford Focus | 23 | 58.716 | 0.638 | |
| 20 | 16 | Aiden MOFFAT | |
Laser Tools Racing | Mercedes Benz A-Class | 24 | 58.739 | 0.661 | |
| 21 | 30 | Martin DEPPER | |
Eurotech Racing | Honda Civic | 22 | 58.980 | 0.902 | |
| 22 | 111 | C | Andy PRIAULX | |
Team IHG Rewards Club | BMW 125i M Sport | 15 | 59.007 | 0.929 |
| 23 | 18 | Tony GILHAM | |
RCIB Insurance Racing | Toyota Avensis | 23 | 59.044 | 0.966 | |
| 24 | 13 | Dan WELCH | |
Welch Motorsport | Proton Gen-2 | 15 | 59.328 | 1.250 | |
| 25 | 28 | G | Nic HAMILTON | |
AmD Tuning.com | Audi S3 | 19 | 59.631 | 1.553 |
| 26 | 11 | Simon BELCHER | |
Handy Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 22 | 59.814 | 1.736 | |
| 27 | 95 | Stewart LINES | |
Houseman Racing | Toyota Avensis | 23 | 59.848 | 1.770 | |
| 28 | 22 | Derek PALMER Jr | |
Support Our Paras Racing | Infiniti Q50 | 21 | 59.969 | 1.891 | |
| 29 | 14 | Alex MARTIN | |
Dextra Racing | Ford Focus | 4 | 1:00.076 | 1.998 | |
| 30 | 39 | Warren SCOTT | |
Team BMR RCIB Insurance | Volkswagen CC | – | No time | N/A |