Ash Sutton took a convincing pole position on at his first attempt in qualifying for the TCR UK series at Oulton Park, with the Verizon Connect Racing Honda driver over half a second clear of points leader Dan Lloyd.
Sutton went to the top of the times on his first flying lap, putting in a time of 1 minute 42.348 seconds to stamp his authority on the TCR field.
Team-mate Ollie Taylor was initially Sutton’s closest challenger, before WestCoast Racing’s Lloyd went second quickest in the closing minutes, ending up 0.567 seconds adrift.
In the end Taylor could only manage a time good enough for third, a further two tenths back, with Andreas Bäckman in fourth as the best of the team’s Swedish siblings.
Derek Palmer secure his best qualifying result of the season in fifth, putting his Alfa Romeo 1.5 seconds from the front, ahead of Maximum Motorsport’s Stewart Lines in sixth, who also took his best race one grid position this year.
Jessica Bäckman was seventh in the team’s third Volkswagen Golf, ahead of Essex & Kent Motorsport’s Lewis Kent in eighth, with his team having worked to repair a failed bolt on his Hyundai’s front-left wheel following practice issues.
DPE Motorsport’s Robert Gilmour and Maximum Motorsport’s Carl Swift completed the top ten.
Swift also claimed the reverse grid pole position for race two, which is based on the top ten second best times which are then reversed. The CUPRA driver will have a big challenge at the start though, as Sutton starts alongside him on the front row.
Several drivers had lap times disallowed due to exceeding track limits, with Lines, Andreas Bäckman, Palmer and Kent all having their best times deleted for pushing the limits too far.
Race one is scheduled to get underway at 13:55 BST later on Saturday, followed by race two at 16:25 BST, with both races being streamed live on the TCR UK YouTube channel.
Qualifying results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 88 | Ashley SUTTON |  |
Verizon Connect Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR | 7 | 1:42.348 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 23 | Dan LLOYD | |
WestCoast Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 12 | 1:42.915 | 0.567 |
| 3 | 32 | Oliver TAYLOR | |
Pyro Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR | 12 | 1:43.135 | 0.787 |
| 4 | 19 | Andreas BÄCKMAN |  |
WestCoast Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 10 | 1:43.254 | 0.906 |
| 5 | 61 | Derek PALMER | |
DPE Motorsport | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 12 | 1:43.885 | 1.537 |
| 6 | 95 | Stewart LINES | |
Maximum Motorsport | CUPRA TCR V3 DSG | 12 | 1:44.367 | 2.019 |
| 7 | 26 | Jessica BÄCKMAN | |
WestCoast Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 14 | 1:44.387 | 2.039 |
| 8 | 38 | Lewis KENT | |
Essex & Kent Motorsport | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 13 | 1:44.459 | 2.111 |
| 9 | 76 | Robert GILMOUR | |
DPE Motorsport | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 12 | 1:44.785 | 2.437 |
| 10 | 45 | Carl SWIFT | |
Endurance Financial Racing | CUPRA TCR V3 DSG | 10 | 1:45.113 | 2.765 |
| 11 | 27 | Tim DOCKER | |
Maximum Motorsport | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 16 | 1:47.122 | 4.774 |
Race two grid
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 45 | Carl SWIFT | |
Endurance Financial Racing | CUPRA TCR V3 DSG | 10 | 1:46.527 | 3.387 |
| 2 | 88 | Ashley SUTTON | |
Verizon Connect Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR | 7 | 1:45.797 | 2.657 |
| 3 | 76 | Robert GILMOUR | |
DPE Motorsport | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 12 | 1:44.879 | 1.739 |
| 4 | 38 | Lewis KENT | |
Essex & Kent Motorsport | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 13 | 1:44.665 | 1.525 |
| 5 | 95 | Stewart LINES | |
Maximum Motorsport | CUPRA TCR V3 DSG | 12 | 1:44.412 | 1.272 |
| 6 | 26 | Jessica BÄCKMAN | |
WestCoast Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 14 | 1:44.396 | 1.256 |
| 7 | 61 | Derek PALMER | |
DPE Motorsport | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 12 | 1:44.335 | 1.195 |
| 8 | 19 | Andreas BÄCKMAN | |
WestCoast Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 10 | 1:43.819 | 0.679 |
| 9 | 23 | Dan LLOYD | |
WestCoast Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 12 | 1:43.188 | 0.048 |
| 10 | 32 | Oliver TAYLOR | |
Pyro Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK8 TCR | 12 | 1:43.140 | – |
| 11 | 27 | Tim DOCKER | |
Maximum Motorsport | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 16 | 1:47.269 | 4.129 |